Defenders Without Fear
by FawnTheFox
Summary: What if Thatch had found the Yami Yami fruit two years earlier? Instead of being killed by Black Beard he ends up kidnapped, along with a certain flame user's little brother. Still distrustful of his new crew Ace is reluctant to ask for help. Through his efforts to save Luffy the Whitebeard crew gets a better understanding of who Ace is and what he's willing to do for family.
1. Chapter 1

**Hi! So this is a story idea I've had for a while, it's only going to be five chapters long but in return the chapters are going to be monster long (I hope). Since it's spring break I am putting out chapters like a boss! Either way I will try to update this every other Sunday (or Saturday). Usually I'm pretty good about the weekend updates, I haven't missed one in a while.**

 **Super Duppper thanks to desintas for Beta-ing this story! Seriously I can't even begin to tell you how awesomely thorough she was! She sent me links to grammar websites and everything!**

 **Long Summary: What if Thatch had found the Yami Yami fruit two years earlier? Instead of Blackbeard killing him, he ends up kidnapped, along with a certain flame user's little brother** **.** **Still distrustful of his new crewmembers, Ace is reluctant to ask for help. But when it comes to his little brother there's nothing he wouldn't do. Through his efforts to save Luffy, the crew gets a better understanding of just who Ace is and what he's willing to do for family.**

Thatch opened his eyes blearily. All he could see was blackness around him. His entire body felt like a giant bruise. He closed his eyes as he exhaled a rasped breath, content to just lie there forever. As long as it meant he didn't have to move he would do it.

Blurry images flashed through his mind.

"A strange island."

"A missing kitchen knife."

"Blood."

"So much blood."

He groaned, squeezing his eyes shut and trying to block out the memories. While most of them were blurry, they definitely were ominous signs! He was in serious trouble this time. What good would remembering do if he was still stuck here, dying in this godforsaken cell?

"Forgive me Oyaji," he rasped once again before becoming still.

"One, two, three," a cheerful voice above him said before he felt an immense pain on his back.

His eyes flew open as he screamed, the pain far too great for any obscenities. The person above him was talking, trying to tell him something but his vision and senses were leaving him. He passed out yet again.

How long he stayed asleep was anyone's guess. There were times when he rose to the surface of his pain only to be pulled back under again. During that time he thought he heard a voice over head, but it could just have been a dream. The voice sounded far too happy to be real, unless of course the person was sent here to torture him. Considering the rough treatment from earlier it very well might be.

When he finally was coherent enough to open his eyes he had the sneaking suspicion a few days had passed.

For the first time he was able to take note of his surroundings. He was lying in a cell, constructed of cold gray stone from floor to ceiling. The only light source was from the cell door itself. Light streamed in through the small barred gap near the top of the door. But for the most part it was dark.

He was about to close his eyes and go back to sleep when a chipper voice rang out from across the room.

"You're not dead!"

It was the same voice from before. He looked up in surprise to see a face hovering inches from his. To his vast surprise it was the face of a kid. An actual kid, as in he looked in his early to mid-teens. He had tan skin, black hair and huge dark eyes with a matching huge smile. He was covered in scrapes and bruises, some of them sloppily bandaged.

"What are you doing here?" he asked, his voice sounding hoarse even to him.

The teen shrugged, coming to sit by him. The smile never leaving his face.

"I was looking for some food so I went to go hunt for some, but then I was jumped by this huge animal and it started chasing me. So I tried to fight back but it tried to eat me! Can you believe that?"

Thatch continued to stare at him perplexed. No, he actually couldn't. But that was beside the point. What in the heck was the kid talking about?

"So just when I thought it was going to get me I ran into a tree. It was so surprised it ran into a different tree." The teen began to laugh as he remember it. "You should have seen the look on its face."

"Kid? What are you talking about?" Thatch asked, bringing a hand to his aching head.

The teen stopped for a moment to give him a curious look. "It's Luffy, not kid."

"Alright…Luffy, how did you get here?" He tried to sit up but instantly regretted it.

For a second he thought Luffy wasn't going to answer, but then he jumped right back into his story.

"So I was going to see if I could eat it, you know… now that it was all tired from hitting the tree. But it tried to attack me again."

Thatch sighed and closed his eyes, all this talk noise was making his head pound. To his surprise there was a loud and bone chilling laugh.

He shot up, his injured body protesting as he searched for the source of it.

There, on the other side of the prison door stood Teach. His grisly face appearing in the small barred window. His breath caught in his throat as the memories threatened to break through his mental wall.

"I see you met Luffy," the man said, a cruel grin on his lips.

"Play nice you two. You're going to be spending a lot of time together."

Thatch regarded him with a disgusted look as his arms gave out and he once again flopped to his back.

"Why?" he rasped out. "Why did you betray pops?"

Black Beard let out another strangled laugh in reply. "It's not betrayal if I was never loyal in the first place. I was with you for one reason, and one reason alone. To get power, and search for the fruit. Which you so kindly found for me."

"So why kidnap me? Why take the kid?"

The man nodded, as if pleased he had asked. "Well you see, power isn't enough. I need recognition and fame. I figure kidnaping you will draw White Beard to me. When he comes to save you I will kill him and gain his status."

Thatch saw red from the confession. He was going to kill this man. Rip him apart.

"YOU'LL NEVER BE ABLE TO BEAT OYAJI!," he screamed with ferocity that surprised even himself. "He is the strongest man on the seas! He will never lose to scum such as yourself."

"Only time will tell. But I must say I've always found your unwavering faith in that man sickening." Teach shrugged, clearly not amused by his outburst.

"Not as sickening as your face!" the boy beside Thatch shouted.

The man looked startled at the poor insult. He bared his teeth in disapproval. "I've got to say kid I'm a little surprised, I honestly thought you would be a little smarter."

"Well I thought you would be smarter," the kid parroted back, crossing his arms angrily. "And your teeth look like a chess board."

Who the hell was the kid? He didn't show an ounce of fear, only anger. But his insults left much to be desired. He didn't seem to hate the man with the same ferocity Thatch did either.

"You're nothing like him," Teach told him, shaking his head in mock disappointment.

"You're nothing like him!" Luffy said, apparently not done with his barrage of repeated insults.

Teach ignored his lame come-back as he once again turned to Thatch, "Luffy here will make sure you don't die so hang tight."

"I'll make sure your face doesn't die…. with my fist!" Luffy screamed as the man began to walk away, leaving their limited range of sight.

To his vast surprise Thatch felt laughter bubble up in his chest. The insult was very poor, but the kid's face was so serious. He clutched his aching ribs as he laughed.

When he calmed down a little bit, he once again turned to the kid. "So it was you who was treating my wound. Thank you."

The seriousness quickly left his face as Luffy came once again to sit by Thatch. The dopy grin was back as he hugged his knees to his chest.

"How old are you?"

"Fifteen," he said, his eyes wide with confusion.

Thatch nodded. "Don't worry kid. We are going to get you back to your family, I won't let anything happen to you."

Luffy gave him a weird look but remained silent, something Thatch took as a blessing as he once again let the pain obscure his vision.

 **.**

It had started off as a normal day, or at least as normal as things get on the ship. The one difference of course being Ace's presence. He had stopped his last attack on Oyaji weeks ago. In the absence of fighting they had offered him a position as second division commander just a few days earlier. Although the transition of events might seem odd to some it made perfect sense to the crew. They had seen Ace go from a bloodthirsty monster to the laid back friendly young man he really was. Oyaji liked him, a feeling he shared with all of the crew. Even while Ace was attacking them, it was clear exactly the kind of man he was. Loyal, to a fault, tough, trustworthy and someone who never quite gave up. He was strong in both body and heart, and brave enough to attack Pops without once ever faltering. He was the kind of person that will make a great second division commander, so that's what he became.

Ace was the type of person who drew people towards him. Whether he knew it or not, he made friends easily, and people rooted for him. In the few short months he had been with them he had managed to win over nearly the entire crew, Thatch included, without even trying.

But as easily as people trusted him Thatch had seen a different side. A more fragile and broken side. Ace accepted their trust with open arms and would never do anything to betray it, but at the same time he was hesitant to extend the same trust to them. That of course did not stop him from getting into all sorts of trouble with his new found friends.

And that is exactly how the day started. Ace and Thatch were on deck, fishing around for the latest 'treasure' to put in Marco's bed. Of course, that's not what they found. After a few minutes of fishing around Thatch pulled out a strange shaped fruit from the sea. After asking Pops it turned out to be a devil fruit. Unfortunately, Teach had heard the entire exchange. He had been standing right there on deck when they discovered it. Thatch had been so preoccupied with the new discovery he completely missed the evil gleam in the man's eyes.

The rest of the day had passed without incident. The entire crew was amused by what he found but by nightfall it was more or less forgotten by everyone but one man.

Thatch was just returning to his room. Most of his brothers and sisters were in bed by now. He had spent the majority of the time in the kitchen prepping for tomorrow's meals. By this point even the other chefs had left. He had noticed at that point that a kitchen knife was missing. But of course on a ship like this that wasn't uncommon, things disappeared all the time. It was likely to reappear the next day in some elaborate prank. So Thatch ignored it.

But when he got to his room something felt wrong. The door was open ajar and the light was burning brightly. Frowning, he had gone to investigate and was surprised to find his entire room ransacked. At first he thought it was just a prank but his pillow looked like it had been gutted with a knife. Whoever this was wasn't messing around.

Then he remembered the devil fruit. He had hidden it between two loose floor boards. Not that he didn't trust his siblings but some of them were greedier than what was healthy for them. What he didn't know at the time that it was Tech who had ransacked his room. The man hadn't left. He was hiding in the closet waiting for Thatch's return. He had watched him pull up the floorboards and reveal his treasure. From there it was a simple matter of letting the knife do the work. The very same knife he had stolen from the kitchen earlier that day.

He had stabbed Thatch in the back, thankfully missing his vital organs but doing enough damage to seriously injure the man. So as he lay bleeding out on the carpet Teach stole the devil fruit, and then he had stolen Thatch. Without anyone on the ship ever waking up.

.

Thatch groaned as he once again woke up, resurfacing from his memories.

"Luffy?"

"Yep?" The boy's face came into view, his ever present smile there.

"How did he catch you?"

Luffy opened his mouth to launch back into his not so amusing animal tangent when Thatch weakly put up a hand to stop him.

"Skip to the part where you met him," he insisted firmly.

"Well AFTER I missed out on dinner, I was heading home SUUUUPER hungry and I ran into him on the path. He asked me if I was Monkey D. Luffy. When I told him I was, he started attacking me."

Thatch shook his head in pity. "That must have been awful."

Luffy shrugged. "Actually it was kind of fun, until I lost." He said the last part with a frown, like he still couldn't believe it.

"Is that what happened to your face"

The kid frowned and reached up, feeling the many bandages and scrapes. He shrugged noncommittally. "Some of them…I always look like this."

"You're always covered in bandages?" Thatch asked with disbelief.

He nodded, tugging experimentally on the bandage on the bridge of his nose.

Deciding to burn that bridge when they got there, Thatch continued on. Being the oldest he felt somewhat responsible for the kid. Even though he seemed less concerned about the situation then Thatch was. Still it was his duty as a grown up to assure the kid things would be all right.

"Either way I'm sure everyone's worried sick about you."

Luffy laughed in earnest. "I doubt anyone's noticed I'm gone yet."

"Don't say that," Thatch scolded him. "I know your families worried about you, just like mine is worried about me."

Luffy looked up at him with interest. "What are they like?"

Thatch thought for a second. "Well, they're really loud, and obnoxious. But I guess I love those idiots."

Luffy laughed at that and Thatch couldn't help but start to like the kid. He was one of the happiest teenagers he had ever met. He was completely carefree despite the situation.

The two of them were interrupted by a loud bang as someone kicked the door. Thatch's head shot up despite his body's protest. Teach himself was unlocking the prison door.

Luffy wasted no time in jumping to his feet. He stood between Thatch and Blackbeard creating a human wall. If the man didn't know any better it almost seemed like Luffy was trying to protect him.

The man's lips curled into a cruel smile. "What? You're going to fight me? After what happened last time?"

"Bring it on!" Luffy yelled as he threw himself at the man. To everyone's vast surprise he managed to get a hit in. His enthusiasm had taken the man by surprise and in turn he landed a solid blow to his face. Unfortunately it was the first and last he would manage to get.

Moving with surprising speed he grabbed the kid's wrist, throwing him to the floor. Thatch's hoarse screams for him to stop fell on deaf ears as he began to stomp him into the pavement.

"That won't work," Luffy told the man between pants.

To Thach's horror Teach smiled, "I know." He pulled a thick pair of handcuffs from his belt, snapping it on the teen's wrists.

He watched as Luffy's face twisted into confusion as he fell limp. Thatch did his best to help, trying to crawl to his new friend, but all it did was agitate his injuries. Ignoring him for now Blackbeard pulled the free cuff, effectively dragging Luffy along with it across the dirty cell floor. He snapped the second cuff to Luffy's free wrist, forcing his arms over his head as he attached the cuffs to a rung in the wall.

"Scared now?" he asked the teen.

"No," Luffy answered back instantly and from the look in his eyes it really was true. He didn't fear this man.

Thatch couldn't help but smile a little at his resolve. But that smile quickly faded as Teach tethered Thatch to the wall with a chain on his ankle, ensuring he didn't go anywhere. Undoubtedly if Thatch wasn't so injured he would have received the same rough treatment as Luffy.

"Maybe now you will behave," Blackbeard told them coldly, his eyes narrowing dangerously.

Thatch looked at him in disbelief. In all the years he had known this man he had never thought him capable of this level of cruelty. Sure the two of them might not have been as close as he was to some of his other siblings, but he still considered this man a friend.

But as it turns out he hadn't known him at all. No one had. He so easily betrayed his crew, his family for what? A devil fruit. One that he could of had if he just asked for it. But he didn't and look at them now, about to go to war with Whitebeard.

He watched holding his breath as Teach stomped back to Luffy, giving him a long stare.

"Don't, he's just a kid, leave him alone!" he desperately shouted.

Teach glanced over at him before turning back to Luffy. For a second it seemed like he was going to hit the kid again when instead his hand shot out, grabbing the straw hat on top of his head.

The effects were immediate. Luffy acted like he had just been shot. His mouth fell open in a gasp before his surprise quickly turned to anger.

"Give that back you bastard!" he shouted his face full of rage, catching Thatch off guard.

In all the time Thatch had known Luffy, the boy had yet to get riled up. Despite being imprisoned Luffy acted like it was a mild inconvenience. Even as he got beat around like a ragdoll he hardly seemed to care. But the second Blackbeard touched his hat all bets were off.

"Give that back or I'll kill you!" Luffy continued to scream, even after Blackbeard had left, once again leaving the cell dark.

"Luffy, you need to calm down," Thatch said after a few minutes of desperate screaming.

"GIVE ME MY HAT!" Luffy yelled, ignoring Thatch completely.

Thatch sighed and rested his head back on the cold stone floor. He hoped his family would hurry up and come save him already. If not for him then for this kid who may or may not be going crazy. For whatever reason he was starting to remind him of Ace.

 **YAY! I did it! Sorry it was so short, I was shooting for five hundred but it's not even 3.5K. Hopefully the next ones will be longer. Ace and The Whitebeards will be in the next one as they get a ransom note and Luffy's prized hat! But Ace is going to be the only one who understands what it means, but because of his mistrust of his new friends he's not going to share it with the others. Either way! Chapter two should be out next (next) Saturday.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey guys! I'm a sick (through every fault of my own) so this chapter is both late and short. Desintas is beta-ing it again because she is awesome but I have no idea when it will be done and I would feel bad about making you guys wait longer. So sorry in advance for my terrible proof reading job, I will upload her awesome sauce editing skills version as soon as I can. Until then I hope you like chapter 2! (cover art by me! It's steam punk Sabo.)**

The Moby Dick was in an uproar. Thatch was missing. He had been betrayed by his brother. They had all been betrayed by Teach. He had stabbed Thatch and stolen the fruit. It was unknown if Thatch was even still alive or not. Yet they still harbored hope. But after everything was said and done. Each search team coming back with disappointed faces and drooping shoulders the mood began to change. The anger slowly began to fade giving way to heartbreak. It had been nearly a week since Thatch disappeared. The odds of finding Teach were shrinking every day. But there was nothing any one seemed able to do about it. They had not clues, no leads, no nothing. How would they ever find their lost brother at this rate?

Ace sat by himself on the ships railing. His knees were hugged loosely to his chest as he stared out at the ocean. To say he felt responsible would be an understatement. He had just been made the second division commander. How had he screwed it up so fast? Teach was in his division, he was his responsibility. Yet he had done nothing to prevent it. Some commander he was.

He hugged his knees tighter. Anybody who knew anything about him could clearly say that Portgas D. Ace loved a challenge. He wasn't one to shy away from anything. That being said he felt lost right now. He wasn't use to failing. His go-get-it attitude coupled with his inability to accept defeat assured his success at most things. Apparently that wasn't going to be enough anymore. If this wasn't what losing felt like then he really didn't know what was. And now because of his mistakes Thatch was …

"Stop it!" Marco's voice rang out.

Surprised Ace turned around to face the first division commander.

"What?" He asked baffled.

"Stop thinking like that! Of course it wasn't your fault."

Ace pouted as he turned to face his friend. "How could you possibly know what I was thinking?"

Marco just shrugged as he leaned against the ships railing. "You're far too predictable my friend. Honestly no body blames you. We're all a team. That means that we don't just hand out blame. When we fail we all accept the loss together and work to make it right again. You're no more responsible than the rest of us. Besides, you're still the newest member. If anyone could have realized what he was planning it would have been us."

Ace nodded as he slowly rose to his feet. He wasn't entirely convinced yet but Marco had made some good points. They were a team.

"Come on." Marco said taking his shoulder. "There's something you are going to want to see."

Ace frowned at his serious expression. This couldn't be good. He followed Marco across the deck to the front end of the ship. Most of the crew had gathered there, including Oyaji. They were gathered in a semi-circle of sorts. Marco pushed his way through the crowed Ace following closely.

"What's going on?"

Marco's face was once again tense as he looked over at Ace. He gestured to a small brown package in the middle of the circle. "It's from him." There was no need to clarify who they were talking about.

Ace clenched his fists as he watched pops carefully pick up the package. What on earth could Teach possibly send them?

He watched, holding his breath as the package was opened. He couldn't remember a time when the ships atmosphere was as tense as this.

Oyaji grit his teeth as he looked inside. He glanced up at his crew and then back at the package. Confusion blossomed over his face as he withdrew a hauntingly familiar straw hat.

Upon seeing it Ace's eyes widened as his chest constricted painfully. That couldn't be…. But even as his mind desperately pleaded for it not to be true he already knew it was. He would recognize that straw hat anywhere. Did that mean that that creep had his brother? Teach had kidnapped Luffy as well. And this time it WAS his fault. Not all the Marco logic in the world could convince him otherwise. A special type of fear creeped into his heart, the likes of which he hadn't felt in years. All logical thought was pushed out and replaced with frantic worry. Luffy was being held by a mad man, a psychopath.

The message was intended for Ace and Ace alone. This left the rest of the crew confused and frustrated.

"Isn't that Red Haired Shank's hat?" Marco questioned? Whatever answer he was about to receive was cut short by a loud thud.

"Ace!"

Marco surged through the crowed to get to his friend. Ace had fallen to his hands and knees and was looking quite sick. He barley responded to Marco's efforts to pull him up.

"What's the matter with him?" Haruta asked in concern.

"M' fine." Ace insisted, his words slurred and distant. With help from Marco he pushed himself to his feet.

"Are you sure my son?" White Beards voice boomed over the crowed.

Ace nodded as he wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, his eyes never leaving the package.

White Beard nodded satisfied as he turned to address the crew. "I know all of you are worried about Thatch but we can't afford to act rashly. A man's life lies in the balance if we do. For the sake of your brother I need all of you to stay calm and rational."

The crew nodded, their eyes downcast as they agreed. No one was happy about it but pops did have a point. They trusted him to make the right decisions especially when the situation got rough.

"I need all of the commanders to meet me in an hour for a meeting to discuss our next actions. The rest of you get some rest."

Ace was barley listening, his gaze fixed firmly on the deck. He could feel Marco by his side but he refused to look up. The crew moved all around him complying to Oyaji's request.

"Can I see the hat?" Ace asked, his voice sounding hoarse even to his own ears.

If White Beard was surprised he didn't show it. He clapped his huge hands on Ace's shoulder and gave it a reassuring squeeze. His free hand handed the hat over to Ace.

"Ace." His calm and commanding voice made Ace look up at him. Meeting his eyes square on. "Is there something wrong?"

Ace clutched the brim of the hat tightly. Wetting his lips before he spoke. "No sir."

White Beard glanced over at Marco who stood beside his friend. Marco's arms were crossed and it was clear as he looked up at pops that he didn't believe him. Still, until Ace was ready to talk there was no use in forcing him.

"Alright my son. But I want you to know that if there is something on your mind you can always come to us."

Ace just nodded again, "Yes sir." He said in the same toneless voice.

Whitebeard sighed as he leaned back, watching Ace walk away. Whatever was bothering Ace he knew he would eventually work it out.

"Keep an eye on him would you?" He asked Marco. Ace, like all his children, had his utmost trust. But he did fear Ace didn't take the 'don't act rashly' message to heart.

"Already on it." Marco promised him.

 **.**

Carefully choosing a hidden corner of the ship Ace sunk down to the ground. His trembling hands still clutched desperately at the hat. He fingered the red ribbon, slipping a finger along the place he knew was a rip. It separated a section of the ribbon from the straw creating a sort of helpful pocket. When they were younger Luffy used to store important things in there.

Sure enough his trembling fingers hit the folded edge of paper. A note. He pulled it out and unfolded it, recognizing the messy handwriting at once as Teach's.

 _Hiya Captain,_

 _Long time no see. You never told me you were a big brother._

 _Isn't that adorable. I can't tell you how hard it was to track_

 _him down. After all it's not like you have a lot of family to_

 _spare. So I'm willing to bet you would do a lot to save him_

 _right? Well if that's so then I need you to follow my_

 _instructions very carefully. We don't need to drag the crew_

 _into this do we? After all this is just between you me and your_

 _brother. A matter of family. As such I want you to meet me in_

 _Sabaody Archipelago in three days' time. I'll keep good care of_

 _him until then._

 _Love Marshal D. Teach_

Ace crumpled the note in his fist. How dare Teach drag Luffy into this? After all it was between the two of them. Luffy wasn't even a pirate yet, that meant he was still an innocent civilian. After he had been so careful not to let anything slip to the new crew about his brother. It wasn't like he didn't trust them. But at the same time he could never quite get himself to start talking about his personal life. It felt wrong in some way. Especially when it involved Luffy.

Of course he had a million stories about his trouble making little brother that would be perfect to tell during an all-night drinking binge. But that protective instinct he had been developing since he was ten had stopped him. After all for every White Beard member he knew there were two more he didn't. His worst fear was that Luffy would somehow suffer for his mistakes. Only now it was actually happening. Up until this point he just thought he was being paranoid. But now he was glad he hadn't shared. Still despite this Black Beard had managed to find Luffy. How he had done it was a mystery to Ace.

Anyway Teach had been right about one thing. They didn't need to get the crew involved. He had attacked Ace directly by taking Luffy. So Ace was going to go after him himself. This was a matter of family.

 **.**

"He's gone!"

Marco nodded looking in concern at his father. "Yea Oyaji! I took my eyes of him for one minute and the next thing I know he just took off."

White Beard nodded thoughtfully, turning away from Marco to look out the window.

"There is something more going on here then we seem to understand."

Marco nodded in agreement. "Why do you think Ace left?"

The enormous man frowned, stroking his chin thoughtfully. 'Why' indeed? Ace was fiercely loyal. What he wasn't was secretive. He was the type of man who brazenly spoke his mind. Vanishing like this without a word was most certainly out of character. It was possible that he should not have given Ace the hat. It didn't mean anything to them, meaning it wasn't meant for them. Ace had been the target all along. Like all of his children Ace had been saddened by the loss of Thatch. But he hadn't decided to up and leave until he had the hat, which was the single possession, aside from the favored watermelon bag that he had taken with him.

"What would you like to do my son?" He questioned Marco.

"If I may Oyaji, I would like to go after him. Ace is my friend and I am worried he is playing right into Teach's hands."

White Beard nodded turning back to face Marco. "Very well. Bring Ace back to his family where he belongs."

Marco nodded, unable to hide the relived smile on his face. "Yes sir!"

He bowed curtly to his father turning back to scan the bow of the ship. The sun had yet to set leaving a streak of colors across the ocean in its wake. Still the horizon was void of any movement except the soft lolling of the ocean. Ace couldn't have gotten far.

Feeling for the phoenix power trapped deep inside him he stepped up onto the ships railing, precariously balancing there. He felt a familiar warmth spread over his body as he became engulfed in the blue fire. With a final lurch he fell over the side the air immediately intermixing with his fire. His ungraceful fall quickly turned into a smooth glide as he coasted over the ocean surface, close enough to touch it with a winged arm.

"Hang on Ace, I'm coming."

 **Once again sorry about its shortness. I tried to make it longer but somehow this length seemed to fit really well. To make it up I will try to update next Saturday. I really hope you liked it. Marco should find out about Luffy next chapter.**

 **Lostdog200: Thank you! I hope you like the story!**

 **Mammoth boys: Thank you! I'm really excited to write about the crews reactions as well! Marco's should be next chapter as he catches Ace pretty quickly. I'm not sure about the rest of the whitebeard pirates but it's unfortunately looking like Thatch isn't going to find out until the end. Hopefully it will pay off in a huge 'NO WAY' moment** **I am really glad you like my story. As you can probably tell Ace was definitely not pleased about Luffy getting kidnapped. Since it is because of him Teach targeting Luffy he feels even worse. Poor Ace** **Thanks for the review!**

 **Guest#1: fggghhjkll! Thank you! I'm glad you liked it.**

 **Guest #2: I hope you liked Ace's reaction. He is angry/worried/in shock. He is going to keep good care of the hat until he can return it too Luffy.**

 **xXMellowHeartXx: Haha thank you! This one was even shorter (sorry) Ace will take good care of the straw hat until he can give it back to Luffy. Ace didn't take it well but I'm not sure when the rest of the whitebeards will find out. Marco's will probably be next chapter. I'm glad you liked the story!**

 **Bluewonderer: Thanks**

 **Guest#3: Thanks you! As you can see Ace didn't take it very well. Right now its looking like Thatch is going to find out last unfortunately. But it will be a huge "OMG' moment. But maybe not I'm not really sure yet. Marco will hopefully find out next chapter.**

 **pipedream: Thank you! That is like the nicest thing I've heard! I'm really glad you like the story.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hi guys, Sorry this chapter is late. This is kind of like finals week at my school so I am beyond swamped. So more on this later but Teach actually had Luffy before he kidnapped Thatch. So the time range should match up. I know a lot of you were confused about that.**

"Ace!" Marco yelled landing on the docks with a thud. He earned many looks from the citizens but he ignored them, pushing through the crowed.

He had searched the entire area and this was the nearest island in sight. Ace must have stopped here to restock. At least Marco hoped so, otherwise the trail would be cold.

This was a relatively small fishing island but it did see it fair share of pirates and sailors. In turn there was a constant crowed gathered around the fish markets. Picking one hot headed kid out from the rest was going to prove itself a challenge. Still he couldn't give up. Ace needed him whether he knew it or not.

"ACCCE!" Marco screamed once again earning him a strange look from the crowed. He certainly wasn't blending in. But then again that was kind of the point. If he lost Ace here he might not find him again until it was too late.

He frowned as he once again took off through the crowed, weaving neatly in and out of the people. But after another hour of searching Marco was starting to give up hope. This place really wasn't that big after all. There was no sign of him here, just fish. lots and lots of fish. He wrinkled his nose as he swore never to look at a fish the same way again.

"Marco?" A surprised voice asked. "What are you doing here?"

Marco's eyes widened as he shot up, nearly crashing into his friend.

"Ace!"

Ace frowned as he shifted his weight awkwardly, clearly uncomfortable with Marco's surprise.

"Yea…it's me. What are you doing here?"

"Looking for you idiot." Marco chided, too relieved to actually be angry. "Seriously where the hell were you hiding? I looked everywhere."

Still surprised by his magical appearance Ace crossed his arms, slightly defensive. "I fell asleep below the docks."

Marco nodded, that sounded about right. He probably should have checked there as well. He noted his friends tone. It looked like Ace was less then stoked to see him. Which was a little surprising considering the young man was most likely in over his head here.

"Why were you looking for me?"

"Is that it! No thanks for coming Marco, you're the greatest human who ever lived…or something like that." He sighed as he got no response from Ace. Something was seriously wrong with his friend. He was acting really serious. Was this still about Thatch or something else?

"You disappeared idiot. Of course I went looking for you. We got worried."

Ace's eyes widened in surprise for a second before returning back to the determined cold grey. The very same look he wore when Marco had first met him. It was the look he wore around strangers. Well that certainly didn't hurt Marco's feelings or anything.

"Well you found me." Ace said. "And I'm fine I promise." There were a few seconds of awkward silence between the two of them before Ace's gaze softened a bit. "I really am sorry about making you worry."

Marco smiled at the look on his friends face. He looked like a kicked puppy. That was the kid Marco knew. The very same kid who got uncomfortable when people showed attachment to him. Like he was allergic to people caring about him.

"Ace you are many things but okay is not one of them. Now tell me what's wrong."

Ace sighed as he looked up at the sky, conflict written across his face.

"It's not your problem it's mine. I can handle it myself." He finally said looking Marco square in the eyes. "Thanks and I mean it but please don't worry about me."

Marco watched in silence as Ace hefted his bag over his shoulder, turning to leave. The most surprising part was this was clearly Ace's attempt at caring. He was trying to protect Marco by keeping him out of it. While there was no doubt in his mind that Ace could take care of himself that wasn't the point.

"Like hell," he said grabbing Ace's arm. "We are a team so if you have a problem then we all have a problem."

He quickly let go realizing aggressive may not be the way to go this time. Then again the only way you could get something into that hot head of his was by pounding it in. And if there was one thing Ace needed to understand it was that he wasn't alone in this.

He looked up to meet two very confused grey eyes. They looked almost pained which confused Marco. He didn't think he could have said anything to hurt Ace.

"He has him." Ace whispered shocking Marco out of his thoughts.

"Who? Thatch."

Ace shook his head making Marco's blood turn cold. So this really wasn't about Thatch. There was something even worse going on.

"Luffy." Marco had to strain to hear.

"Luffy?" He repeated unsurely.

Ace nodded clenching his fists, "My little brother."

Well shit, Ace had a brother? He could maybe see an awesome warrior type older brother but not a younger one. Ace was a big brother? That was pretty ironic considering he was one of the youngest on the ship. When they had first met Ace if you were to tell anyone on the crew Ace had a little brother they would have laughed it off as a bad joke. But now, after all the time they spent together Marco believed he did have someone he would go to any length to protect. And if Marco had learned one thing on these seas it was the more you cared the more opportunity for heartbreak. Ace must have known this as well, thus why he hadn't so much at hinted at his family.

"Are you sure?" He asked weakly.

Ace mutely handed him a crumpled note. He read it over twice, instantly recognizing the messy handwriting. A sinking feeling of dread pooled in his stomach. Teach was insane. He had kidnapped an innocent kid to get back at another slightly older kid. And for what? Why single out Ace of all people. He was still so new. Sure he was Teach's squad leader but there had to be more right? Popular or not Ace was a new pirate. If Teach had wanted fame he should have gone after an older legend on Whitebeards crew.

Ace had been keeping this a secret? No wonder he was acting strangely. Marco groaned as he handed the note back to Ace. This was SO messed up. And also kind of out of his range of expertise. He had never been in a hostage blackmail situation before… Well that wasn't true but he had never been on the victim side before. And honestly he wasn't enjoying it.

"Alright," he said rubbing his eyes tiredly. "Let's go."

Ace blinked in surprise. "What?"

"I'm going with you."

"No you're not." Ace insisted firmly. "I already told you that it's my problem not yours. Besides I don't think Teach wanted me telling you this."

"Screw him," Marco seethed. "He is going to get what's coming to him. That man is certifiably insane. Besides he messed with the Whitebeards, we can't just sit back and twiddle our thumbs while you risk your life. He put his hand comfortingly on the young man's shoulder. "You're not alone in this Ace, I'm here for you whether you want me to be or not. So for the love of god let me help before I punch you."

There was an awkward silence as Ace considered. "You sure about this? We might die."

"Not before taking that stupid prick with us."

Ace smirked at that, for the first time in days. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it. Although as much as I hate to say it we probably can't do this on our own. I'm going to go with your lead on this one but I think it would really help if you let me call Oyaji. He won't tell anyone else I swear but keeping him in the dark cannot be a plus for us."

Ace nodded biting his lip. He clearly wanted to say something, the nature of which Marco had no idea. But for whatever reason Ace just turned away once more swinging the bag over his shoulder.

 **.  
** "Luffy you have to stop." Thatch said as he watched the boy yet again rocket himself at the door unsuccessfully. Luffy ignored him as he flung his body against the wood as hard as he could. He had been at this for days. Whenever anyone untethered him from the wall he went right back to trying to break the door down. Whatever beating Teach gave them paled in comparison to what Luffy was doing to himself. His body was a patch work of bruises from continuously colliding with the door. Due to the sea stone cuffs on his wrist Thatch highly suspected Luffy had a devils fruit. But for the life of him he couldn't figure out what it was.

"Luffy please." Thatch tried a different tactic. "Talk to me here, what's the matter."

"He took my hat!"

Thatch nodded, he got that part. Hard not to with Luffy screaming it every five minutes. He was beginning to think that this 'quest' for the straw hat was simply a manifestation of Luffy's concealed fears due to their imprisonment. Either that or this kid was crazy. Who fought that hard for such a battered old hat? He could just buy a new one. Surprisingly enough straw hats were not a rarity here. Although there was something hauntingly familiar about that one.

"Would you just shut up already?" Teach demanded as the prison door flew open.

Sure enough Luffy attacked him with the same ferocity from before. Unfortunately he wasn't able to land a single hit, especially with his hands being bound like they were. The sea stone made his movements slow and sluggish. It was over before it really began. Teach had Luffy pinned to the floor beneath his hulking feet in a matter of seconds.

"Give it back." Luffy demanded.

"What the hell is so important to you about that damn hat? You should be worrying about yourself instead."

Thatch was just about to yell for him to leave Luffy alone when a glint in Luffy's eyes stopped him in his tracks.

"I don't care what you do to me." Luffy's voice was cold and absolute, it left no room for argument. Thatch had never heard him so serious before. It honestly scared him.

"But if you hurt my hat I will kill you." The look he was giving Teach would have made a lesser man flee in terror. It looked so out of place on someone so happy and carefree.

So maybe there were no manifestations in the form of a metaphorical hat… Luffy was just really attached to that thing. As for the reason why it was anyone's guess.

Teach on the other hand smirked, removing his foot from Luffy so the kid could get up. "You know kid, I might have misjudged you. I thought you were just a stupid idiot. But you might be more like him then I thought." He brought up his hand to silence Luffy from demanded his hat back yet again.

"It's safe," he promised. "I gave it to a friend of yours to watch over."

Luffy blinked, his eyes returning to their usual curious state. "Really?" He questioned, his voice once again reflecting a normal fifteen year old instead of that horrifying hollow tone.

Teach nodded causing a wide grin to break out across the boy's face.

"Thank you!"

"Oi!" Thatch cried outraged. What was up with that sudden mood shift? And why the hell was Luffy thanking their captor, the very same man whose life he had threatened just moments ago.

"He's bad remember."

"Oh yea," Luffy said thoughtfully. He turned back to the man anger in his face. "You there! Chess teeth. You get a free pass for today because you kept my hat safe but tomorrow I'm totally going to kick your ass."

"It's Black Beard you little twerp. How is that hard to remember?"

Luffy just shrugged, uncaring as Blackbeard left, slamming the door angrily behind him. Thatch watched on in amazement. Luffy had managed to annoy him, something Thatch had been trying to do for years.

He turned his head as Luffy once again sunk down beside him. He was completely different from that fearless boy who had just threatened a man's life while pinned under said man and completely at his mercy. He was now back to being the happy-go-lucky kid Thatch had grown used to.

"Kid?"

"Uhmm?"

"Seriously, what the hell is your deal?"

Just when he thought he was beginning to understand Luffy he gets thrown for a loop. One thing was for sure, no one could claim Luffy to be predictable… at all.

Luffy just laughed as he checked Thatch's injuries.

It was clear that was the only answer he was going to get. Thatch leaned back and closed his eyes, the events of today leaving him drained. Sure Luffy was unpredictable and eccentric at the best of times but in their short time together Thatch had grown to depend on him. If there was one thing Thatch hated it was being alone. And no matter how wrong or messed up it was part of him was glad Luffy was here, to fend off the prisons darkness for Thatch. Of course the other part of him wanted Luffy to be home with his family right now. But since neither of them got their wish he might as well enjoy the company. His family would come for him. He was sure. And when they did he would personally see to it that Luffy was returned to his.

 **.**

"Marco is that you?" Vistas voice came clearly across the Den Den Mushi.

"Yea, it's me." He replied tiredly. "I need to speak to pops right away."

"Is Ace okay! Did you find him? Please tell me he's okay."

Marco sighed not in the mood to deal with this. But he knew his siblings were just worried about their youngest member. He could definitely relate.

"Yea, he's here with me. He's okay for now. Things are going to work out so don't worry."

"What on earth is wrong? Is he in trouble? Does he need our help?"

Marco paused for a second unsure of how to answer the barrage of questions. Yea, he would say Ace was in trouble. But he couldn't tell Vista that without betraying his friend. He had promised Ace to only tell pops. Although slightly unfair, after Teach he could understand where Ace was coming from. He could also sympathize with his reluctance to tell them about his brother before.

When they saved his brother and got this whole mess sorted out maybe Ace would tell the crew a bit more about himself. If nothing else this little venture highlighted just how much Ace trusted and distrusted them at the same time.

"Don't worry Vista, I've got his back on this one. It's all going to work out in the end. Sorry to do this but I really need to talk to pops… kind of life and death here."

He could hear the grumble from the other end as Vista shuffled to comply. He hoped his brother would pass on his words to the rest of the crew.

"Marco?" The comfortingly gruff voice said.

Marco instantly relaxed upon hearing it. Pops would fix things. He knew how to make this right.

"You were right, Teach was after Ace. That's why he sent us the hat. He somehow managed to get a note to Ace in it. He took his little brother and he's using him to blackmail Ace. I think he knows more about Ace then he's letting on."

There were a few minutes of silence as Oyaji processed it. "This is bad." He finally said.

Marco nodded, even though he knew pops couldn't see. He had figured that much on his own. What they needed now was a plan, but how could they plan when they had no clue what was really going on here.

"So what does Teach want Ace to do?"

"Meet him on Sabaody Archipelago in two days… Alone. He made it pretty clear Ace wasn't supposed to involve us." There was a long pause before Marco spoke again. "If I may Pops I think me and Ace should go. I'll keep out of sight and act as his back up. We don't really have many options but to do as they say. They have Thatch and Ace's brother and we have no idea where they could possibly be."

"You think that best?"

"I do sir."

"Well then, you better get going. You have an appointment to keep. Be safe, and report to me if anything happens. We will stay here and continue to track and track them down."

Marco agreed a grimace on his face. This was not going to be pleasant. But he swore to pops and Ace they would find Thatch and Luffy and make Teach pay. No one messed with their family and got away with it.

 **.**

 **Lostdog200: Hope you liked it!**

 **Guest #1: Thank you! Hope you liked it!**

 **Guest#2: Here you go! Hope you liked it.**

 **Guest #3: It's okay! Maro caught hima dn they will go together with WB supporting them. I promise I will get into that later**

 **Guest #4: Haha aww, I'm really glad you liked it.**

 **Guest #5: Tadaaah! Update. Sorry it was late I try to do every other week.**

 **KamiinBlack: I love big brother Ace as well! Hopefully they will learn a lot they didn't know about Ace! It sort of started in this chapter when he told Marco and they had a bro bonding moment. But hopefully more on that later on. I hope you liked it!**

 **Saraku: Me too! I love brotherly fics as well. Poor Ace, lol thank you. The situation is definitely going to get worse before it gets better. As awesome as your prediction was Marco did catch up to Ace and they had a heart to heart moment. But that is an awesome idea! Lol I wish I had thought of it. The plan was definitely for the WBP to all see how awesome Ace is and how much he loves his family. Hopefully it will be scattered throughout the fic but especially at the end. I am really glad you like it! Thank you so much for the awesome review and for the grammar assurance I was kind of worried there lol. Long reviews always make my day** **I really hope you liked the chapter!**


	4. Chapter 4

**Important Authors Note!**

 **Hi guys. Sorry this is so late. I have been absolutely slammed these last weeks. I graduated high school then immediately had my wisdom teeth taken out and I was drugged up right until the day I left. I really wanted to update before to let you guys know but it just wasn't in the cards.**

 **I got a summer job working as a camp counselor until collage starts. It looks amazing and I'm so so excited. The only problem is I live there 24/7 with no internet connection. So in short I promise I will do my best to update both this story and TWRR but I really don't know how it's going to go. So until August Dolls is on hiatus. All my story statuses are on my bio if you want to see about any others. So sorry to do this to you guys. You're the absolute best and I promise in turn I will do my best to keep my every other week updating schedule.**

 **(In the meantime go read The Woods Run Red !. It's my favorite one piece fic to write. It's a red riding hood AU and I am very proud of it!)**

 **.**

Thatch sighed as he pulled himself into a sitting position. His stomached ached menacingly but he ignored it. He met the concerned dark eyes from across the room.

"I'm fine." He promised the teenager, his voice quivering a bit.

"Are you sure?" Luffy asked as he pulled against his restraints. "Because you look like you're going to die."

Thatch's eyes grew wide at that. WHAT! He didn't want to die. Not yet at least. He was too young to die! ...except the more he thought about it he probably wasn't. But he still didn't want to. If he did his family would be crushed. He would never again annoy his brothers, cook for his family or talk to Oyaji.

"Your bedside manner is terrible."

Luffy just shrugged as he once again began to pull on the cuffs that's tethered him to the wall. At one point it looked like he tried to bite the metal, either that or gnaw his hand off.

"You don't know when to give up do you kid?"

The teenager paused temporarily tilted his head to the side. "Give up?"

Thatch nodded, "You know… stop trying. Especially when there's nothing you can do."

He was met with a laugh. "Why would I give up? Then I would be bored."

"So this is making you feel better then?"

Luffy nodded not so much as looking at Thatch as he continued to claw at the cuffs.

"Then have at it." Thatch said as he watched skeptically. As futile as it was he had to admire the kid's spirit. Especially considering they were both screwed. But he had made a promise to return this kid and dying or not he was going to keep that promise.

"Hey Luffy."

"Yea?"

"Tell me a story would you?"

He watched as two dark brown eyes shifted over towards him. They looked confused. "Will that make you better?"

Thatch shrugged thoughtfully. Probably not, no. But it would help keep his nerves at bay. Plus it might stop Luffy from further mutilating himself.

"Yea, sure." Thatch lied as he rested his back against the cold stone wall.

Luffy's innocent smile brightened at the concept of helping out. He settled back down temporarily seizing his fidgeting. "Alright!" He agreed readily. "I don't know many stories though."

"That's okay, tell me anyone you remember."

Luffy thought for a second creating an odd silence in the room. "My brother did tell me one I remember."

"Oh?" Thatch said surprised the kid had siblings. From his headstrong attitude he had suspected only child.

"Have you heard about Noland the Liar?"

He shook his head, "Can't say have."

Luffy's smile grew at that. The kind of smile that could light up a room, it certainly didn't belong in a place like this. But either way it was nice.

So Thatch settled back as the teenager began to tell the story of Noland the Liar. It turns out that Luffy was even worse at story telling then he was at coming up with insults. He somehow managed to spoil the ending in the first sentence and left out any and all details. Also for whatever reason he seemed convinced Noland was some form of aquatic animal when from the context Thatch was sure he was supposed to be a human. Honestly? Why would people understand/ believe/execute a whale? It made no sense.

But he pointedly kept his mouth shut. If Luffy wanted the protagonist to be a fish then it was his call. Who was he to tell the kid that they couldn't survive out of water?

"Are you sure he was executed for eating everyone else's food?" Thatch tried gingerly. "And not for… you know lying about the gold?"

Luffy just shrugged. "Dunno, that's how my brother told it to me."

"You didn't by chance eat his food did you?"

"I did!" Luffy said proudly. "He was so surprised."

Surprised probably wasn't the right word but Thatch decided to let it go.

"So you have a brother? Older I'm guessing."

Luffy nodded a fond yet nostalgic smile on his face.

"What's his name?"

"The one who told me the story?"

Thatch nodded confused by Luffy's apparent need to clarify. Who else would he be talking about after all?

"Sabo!" Luffy said happily.

The man smiled at Luffy's enthusiasm. Even from the short time they spent together it was apparent that Luffy was a high energy being. Still there was a particular spark in his eyes when he talked about his brother. It seemed to calm him down, an impossible feat by any other means. Determined to keep the other occupied he asked what this 'Sabo' was like.

Luffy's face once again lit up at the question. "He is the best!" He answered simply.

"Why?" Thatch probed.

Luffy tilted his head slightly as he thought it over. After a few seconds he just shrugged, unsure of how to answer. "Because he is."

From his tone it almost sounded like Luffy was explaining common knowledge to Thatch. As if he was an idiot for not knowing this already. It made Thatch nearly crack up.

"Oh is that so?"

Luffy nodded enthusiastically. This conversation was honestly making Thatch a little homesick.

He was about to ask a follow up question when thudding footsteps sounded from outside. The two of them fell instantly silent as the door shuttered open. But it wasn't Teach like they had been expecting. Instead a sickly thin man stood in the doorway.

"Who are you?" Luffy asked with his usual non-existent tact.

The man's eyes darted over to him before returning to Thatch. He leaned against the door heavily. It looked like he was about to fall over.

"Doc Q," He greeted with a wheeze as he tipped his hat forwards. "I'm a friend of Black Beard."

"That psycho had friends?" Thatch questioned cynically.

The sickly man ignored him as he began to stumble across the jail cell to where Thatch was tied.

"I'm a doctor." He told him swaying drunkenly from side to side. "I'm here to make sure you don't die. You're no good to us dead."

"There's an us now?" He questioned trying to scoot back against the wall. "What exactly are you guys planning?"

The man just shrugged throwing another glance at Luffy. "Don't worry about it." He said too quickly.

"Now hold still so I can fix you."

 **XXX**

"Ace calm down! It's going to be okay."

Marco watched the young man pace with a heavy heart. He understood what he was going through right now. He felt the same way about Thatch. Thinking of his brother hurt and confused in some psychopaths grasp made him want to puke. Undoubtedly Ace was battling with the very same notion.

The two of them were currently in Sabaody Archipelago. The meeting was in a few hours and Ace looked a little worse for wear.

He looked up at Marco quickly before returning to his pacing. "I'm fine." He insisted leaving no room for argument.

Marco frowned but remained silent. It was just like his friend to be stubborn when he really needed help. At the very least that hadn't changed. One thing that was kind of disconcerting was Ace was starting to revert back to how he was before befriending them. It wasn't like he was going to attack pops or anything. It was more the little things. He was starting to close off again. Just when he was beginning to really truly trust the crew this had to happen. The thought hurt Marco more then he cared to admit. He felt new found hatred flare up at Blackbeard for causing yet another calamity.

The next time Ace passed Marco pulled him down to a sitting position, insisted the continuous pacing was making him nervous.

"Tell me about him."

"What?" Ace asked confusion on his face.

"Tell me about your little brother. What's he like?"

Ace studied his friend hesitantly, unsure whether or not to answer. He looked almost conflicted.

Cursing Blackbeard for the n'teenth time that day Marco made sure to keep his face passive. A secret plea to remind his friend who he could still trust.

Ace sighed tiredly running his hand through his hair.

"He is a mess." Ace admitted finally giving in.

"What?" Marco asked confused. He had been expecting something… more positive.

Ace smiled a bit, the thought clearly cheering him up.

"He is all over the place. He is constantly losing all his stuff, he likes to take on enemies he can't possibly beat, he has no manners what so ever, he forgets he's cold until he has freaking frostbite and too top it all off he is always hungry."

Ace finished contently with a lazy smile on his face. At the very least he seemed calmer now. Talking about his brother seemed to do the trick.

Marco smiled slightly, glad to have gotten through to his friend. "Sounds like a handful."

"You don't know the half of it," He said with a small laugh. "I swear that kid is going to be the death of me."

"So do you guys get along?" Marco probed. From the context it sounded like this Luffy kid drove Ace crazy. But somehow it sounded as if the older teen didn't mind. Still for whatever reason Ace never mentioned his brother.

Ace simply batted his worries away with a laugh. "We still have our fights, just like every other sibling. Especially when we were younger, but not so much anymore I guess. We only ever really get into it when he does something stupid and worries me."

"Sounds rough." Marco said with a knowing smile. He could relate. All his siblings were idiots as well, Thatch included.

"Wouldn't someone realize he was missing by now?"

Ace shook his head, staring out towards sea. "There's no one to notice but me." He said after a few moments of silence.

"That can't be true." Marco argued, feeling dread creep into his stomach at the thought.

"I'm sure they would notice eventually." Ace corrected himself. "But it would take them a while." Preciouses time they didn't have.

Who knows when Garps next visit would be? At the rate he usually poped up it could be anytime in the next two years. Sure Makino might notice as well but once again who knew when she would be able to make it up there. And it wasn't like not being able to find Luffy was cause for alarm. Ace was just about the only one who could predict the sporadic child's movements. Which came in handy when Luffy needed saving. Dadan was honestly the one he had the most hope for. But it would probably take her too long to realize something ws actually wrong. Despite the progress they had made with her they did everything in their power not to rely on her. Ace knew the woman did not appreciate or like kids and their very presence already put her out more then she liked. That being said she already proved she would help them out in a pinch.

"So you two are close then?" Marco asked, bringing him out of his thoughts.

Ace smiled at the question, abandoning the dark thoughts that had started to creep into his mind. "He is the most important person in the world to me."

 **.**

 **So So sorry about the rush job. I literally have to get back to camp in like ten minutes. I wanted to at least put a chapter up despite it being short and terribly written. I am so so sorry but I literally don't have time to proof read this. However I will send it to a beta as soon as I can and she will make it wonderful and amazing. Once again I will do my best to update. If anyone is curious about The Woods Run Red Chapter 11 I am working on it I promise.**

 **Lost dog: Thank you**

 **Guest: Thank you! I passed all my finals! Hope you like the update.**

 **J-Swan: don't worry more frntic Ace on the way. He is barley holding on but Marco is keeping him calm. Brotherly Ace/Lu is also on the way. Luffy is going to meet the Whitebeards I promise, just not right now. Thank you so much for the nice comment I am so glad you like my lil old story.**

 **Saraku: Your review made me so happy. I looove long comments I'm so glad this brightened your day. You should log in so I can reply to you faster. I felt so bad you had to wait so long. Ace is so cute and innocent he tries so hard to be tuff. And Luffy is way to freaking adorable and innocent for this. I did get a beta but at the moment I am a little too stressed/ busy to get in touch with her. Hopefully I will be able to send it over to her soon. So Sabo is going to make an appearance in this fic. But it's not going to be a huge role. Its going to be more of a heart ripped out of chest thing for the audience but the brothers aren't quite going to put the dots together. (IDK maybe Ace is going to). But he is not going to act on it because his priority is saving Luffy. Anyway please feel free to talk to me anytime. Your comments are amazing and it makes me so happy you like my story. I will try to get back to you quicker next time.**


	5. Chapter 5

"Portgas D. Ace I presume, to what do I owe the pleasure?"

"Piss off."

"Don't be like that." The man smiled, showing his yellow teeth. "Black Beard couldn't make it today but he sends his love."

"Go to hell," Ace retorted angrily refusing the offered seat across from the man. "Just tell me what you did with my brother?"

"He's fine," He said. "Such a spitfire if I do say so myself. I see where he gets if from."

"Who are you?" Ace demanded trying his best to keep his fire in check.

"Jesus Burgess, Black Beards first mate. How do you do?"

"So what? That crazy psycho is starting his own crew?"

"Started," Burgess corrected. "And we are currently recruiting, you interested?"

"Go to hell," Ace repeated once more. "Just tell me where my brother is and you can get back to recruiting for your little cult."

Burgess sighed as he sunk lower into his seat. "Boss said that if you rejected things would get complicated. Of course that's exactly what he said you would do. Thinks your predictable or something. You see we didn't go out of our way to kidnap your brother just to give him back because you asked nicely. One way or another you're going to help us."

Ace frowned crossing his arms. "You're wasting your time with me. I've got nothing to give you."

The man once again grinned, his eyes twinkling cruelly. "That's not true Portgas…or should I say Gol D. Ace."

Ace froze at that, staring at Burgess as if he had suddenly sprouted horns. "What are you talking about?" He finally managed to spit out.

The pirate just laughed at his pitiful attempt, clearly aware he had found Ace's soft spot. "Don't play dumb, we both know very well what I am talking about. Although if it makes you feel better you can keep pretending you're not tht man's son."

They stood in silence for a moment as Ace desperately tried to calm his racing heartbeat. His biggest secret, the one that single handedly assured his destruction rested in the hands of monsters. As did Luffy. One thing was for sure, he was screwed. He pushed those thoughts out of his head. That didn't matter right now, he came here for one reason and one reason only. He would save Luffy even if it were the last thing he did.

"So you know," he finally said. "Why not just go tell the government? I am sure they would be very interested."

Burgess simply shrugged at the suggestion, uninterested. "And let them kill you? How would that help us? Like it or not we have bigger plans for you. And all thing considered it would be in your best interest to listen to us. Wouldn't it be a shame if something were to happen to your little brother? It's my understanding you don't have a lot of family to spare."

How long were they going to keep throwing that back in his face? Generally speaking when your family dies you don't have a lot left over. But he was oh so sorry it narrowed down their blackmail choices. Not for the first time Ace wondered if Luffy would have been better off if they had never met. But perhaps now wasn't the best time to contemplate this. He could worry about it more when Luffy was safe.

"So what, I do your dirty work and in turn you return my brother? Fine what do you want?"

"For starter we want crew members. At the moment it's just three of us and it's getting a little lonely."

"Well that must be tough." Ace mocked not in the mood for jokes.

"They told me you were a tough kid." Burgess said, "You should have no problem finding the kind of recruits we need."

"Is that all? I get you recruits that's your big request?"

"For now at least, you get us recruits then we will talk again." Until then you better get a move on it, your little friend Thatch is also in our care and from the looks of it he isn't doing so well. It would be a real shame if he died don't you think?"

Ace perked up at this, instantly standing up straighter. "Thatch is still alive? Is he okay, what are you doing to him."

Burgess put up a hand to stop him, "As I said get us some crew mates then we will talk. For now all I'm going to say is that both of them are still alive."

Relief crashed through Ace like a tidal wave. Thank god Thatch was still alive, at least that was one death he didn't have on his conscience. At least not yet. If there was any physical way for him to save Thatch he would certainly try. He just hoped the man could hang on a little while longer.

"We want seven new members. They better be strong and none of that conscience crap they need to be tough, rob a prison if you need to. You have two weeks before we meet back here. And you better have all of them or someone is going to die." Burgess rose to leave but Ace called him back.

"What?"

He bit his lip unsure of how to broach the topic. As much as he wanted to let it go he knew he had to ask. If not for himself then for Luffy who cared more about Ace's life then Ace did.

"When this is all said and done are you going to kill me?"

"What kind of question is that?"

"Just answer it." Ace snapped not willing to play word games with his life.

"Fine," Burgess sighed. "I'm not going to lie it's not looking good for you."

Ace sucked in his breath doing his best to keep his face neutral. This definitely would not be the first time he got a death threat, not by a long shot. But this was the first time someone held so much power over him. Hell the military presence was strong on this island, all it would take was a few carefully chosen words from Burgess and they would send a buster call for Ace's death. And that was best case scenario. At least right now he had a fighting chance. But the way he gathered it the same could not be said about the future. Especially considering they held both Luffy and Thatch's lives in their hands.

He fought through the rising emotions, struggling to keep his voice the same. "What about Luffy and Thatch? Do you plan to kill them too?"

"Whitebeard pirate aside we don't have a reason to kill the brat unless he gives us one. You better pray it stays that way. What I can tell you is if you listen like a good boy your brother's chances will be better."

Ace almost groaned at that. Clearly this man had not spent enough time with his brother. He was sure Luffy would give them a reason. Hell he had probably given them some today alone. But at least they needed him alive to control Ace. So for now they couldn't do anything too serious.

Burgess stood up to leave but Ace hardly noticed. He sat there mulling over what he had said. The single thought that kept repeating over and over in his mind was that he didn't want to die, not yet. When he was little he didn't even want his life. It used to be too full of pain and misery for it to be worth it. But somewhere along the way that had changed. He managed to get a family, even someone so useless like him had found some people who loved and supported him no matter what. Of course Sabo was gone now (it still hurt to think about it)…and thanks to him Luffy was in trouble. He knew he wouldn't be able to live with himself if anything happened to that kid. It should be a no brainer, his life for Luffy's. And while he knew he was going to get Luffy back no matter what he just couldn't accept his fate so easily. A small selfish part of his brain kept wishing he could somehow get both, begging him to find another way, a way he didn't have to die. But why should it even matter? He should be happy as long as he saved Luffy right? So why was he suddenly so devastated?

But there was his mother and his brother to think of. If he were to die that would waste her sacrifice and break the promise he had made to Luffy. That was the last thing he wanted.

Sighing he stood up. He couldn't procrastinate any longer on his other fear, if Marco overheard or not. On unsteady legs he walked over to his friends hiding place. In theory it was far enough away that nothing could be heard but He learned never to underestimate the fire birds hearing.

He tried his best to change his serious face but quickly gave up. He wasn't really in the mood to smile right now… or ever again.

"How did it go?"

"We have two weeks to find seven crew members."

Marco grimaced but didn't object. "Well we should be able to manage it."

"Thatch is alive." Ace said watching a huge smile bloom over his friends face. It certainly made himself feel better as well. At least this way Marco would only have to lose one friend not two. Ae chided himself for thinking that way.

Picking up on his distress Marco's face darkened. "Did he say anything else?"

"Nope!" Ace said innocently, "That was it."

He could tell his friend believed that lie as much as he had believed the first. The only difference was this time Ace wasn't going to tell him, no amount of friendship speeches would change that.

"We should get moving." Ace said swinging his bag over his shoulder. "We have to find this crazy group cult members and we only have two weeks."

Marco said something else but it fell on deaf ears. Ace felt the familiar disconnectedness that accompanied his narcoleptic fits. He always got them when his mind became too full. Usually it was an annoyance but for the first time in his life he welcomed it. His problems were finally too big for him to deal with alone.

He was asleep before he even hit the ground.

 **XXX**

"Yea, now we have to help Black Beard gather a crew." Marco sighed leaning against a wall.

Ace had passed out leaving nothing for Marco to do but call pops and update him. To say he was worried about his friend was an understatement. Although the news about Thatch had been just about the best thing he had heard in his life.

"I'm really worried about him Oyaji. I think it's worse than he's telling me. Why won't that stubborn idiot just let me help him?" He kicked the ground in an unusual display of irritation.

"He wouldn't be Ace if he did things the easy way." Whitebeard reminded him patiently. "You have to remember who you're dealing with here. For whatever reason Ace isn't used to relying on others. He tries to do everything himself no matter how bad things get."

"I know," Marco said slowly letting go of his pent up aggression. "Hopefully he will tell me what's really going on before he dies of stress or something like that."

Whitebeard laughed at that, "You give yourself too little credit. Imagine what would have happened if you hadn't noticed something was wrong with him. He would have to do all of this on his own. We would still have no clue why he left or what was wrong."

That was true at least. It's not like Marco was useless. Right now it looked like his job was finding sketchy crew mates with questionable morals. Lame as it sounded it was all he could do to help Ace at the moment. So he was sure as hell going to do it.

"Well Pops, I guess I have to let you go." They weren't going to find themselves after all.

He just preyed Thatch could hold on a little longer.

.

 **Tada! Meeting complete. And things are getting serious. Poor Ace :..(Hopefully he will stop being an idiot and let Marco help. DON'T DIE! I'm sorry to say I don't have enough internet to reply back to you guys. I barley have enough to post this. But please tell me what you think. I should be able to respond back next chapter. The next update should be in two weeks when my job ends. But after that it should come more regularly.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey Friends** **Thank you for being patient I know it was probably really annoying. I've been back for a couple of days but I've been working on a new fanfic (yay!) But it will be awhile before I finish it. So anyways I leave for collage in a week but until then I should get plenty of writing done due to all my friends being already gone and I lost my phone so I've got nothing to distract me (hysteric crying). Plus I've got an entire summers worth of collage work to do and I seem to do my best writing when I'm procrastinating** **Thank you for sticking with me for the summer. !Excessive swearing in the chapter (Luffys mad)!**

 **.**

"Are you done yet?" Black beard asked as he kicked the teen across the floor. "For heaven's sake you're making this tougher on yourself then you need to."

"SCREW YOU BASTARD!" Luffy screamed as he struggled to sit up. His hands were tied behind his back with sea stone cuffs ensuring and damage he took hurt.

"Are you going to give up yet?"

"NEVER!" Luffy screamed as he threw himself at Blackbeard head-butting his shins viciously. The man howled in pain as he once again kicked the teen across the room.

"If you hurt my brother I will kill you."

His new found anger honestly surprised Teach as the teen was usually even tempered and optimistic. Not even the hat incident could compare to his new rage. Teach had let the news slip that they were planning to kill Ace and Luffy exploded. He had expected a reaction, crying, begging whatever but this was a little excessive. And he was only making things harder on himself, not that Teach needed an excuse to beat him up.

He had foolishly thought Luffy could be coerced into being helpful. Alas he was sadly mistaken. He knew the basics of Ace's life story but it was fuzzy at best. His information was fleeting and scattered which from personal experience was no way to blackmail someone. No he needed a little more then what he had…more leverage was the word for it. Or at the very least more motivation when he finally took this to the world government. Not only that but he was sure that with a family tree such as this one there were secrets to go around. Some of which Luffy must be privy too. But he was just not cooperating. Blasted kid, reminded him way too much of his older brother. Now if only he could get something to blackmail Luffy with.

"Just tell me what I want to know and I'll ease up."

"Go to HELL!"

Okay so logic didn't sway the kid. Apparently neither did pain but that never stopped him before. He brought his foot down hard hearing a satisfying thud. Since the kid was made of rubber normal attacks don't do much to him but Teach easily found a way around this. His new devil fruit saw to that. He could hurt anybody as much as he wanted now regardless of any opposing devil fruits.

Luffy twisted around wrapping his legs around the man's leg in order to viciously bite it, drawing both blood and skin.

Teach cussed in pain as he flung the kid off. "You just don't know when to give up do you?"

"You can't kill Ace!" Luffy said spitting out Teach blood. "He won't let a loser like you beat him."

"We will see about that." He said coyly. "But honestly I'm not expecting much of a fight from him."

Luffy paused for a second staring at the man coldly. "What."

"Well I have to admit he is pretty strong. So much so that I had my associate offer him a chance to join us. Of course he predictably declined." He sighed regrettably. "That being said he has one weakness and that's you. As long as I have you he can't oppose me"

Luffy's eyes winded a fraction before narrowing dangerously. "Leave him alone!" His voice was dangerously low.

Teach frowned clicking his tongue the teenager. "Don't be like that. You two are making this too easy for me. Honestly I was all worried he wouldn't care I captured you. You know I asked him once if he had any family and he told me no. So I was half expecting you two to hate each other or something like that. Certainty not this annoyingly sentimental crap."

"You talk too much." Luffy told him rolling over on the floor to look up at the man. "You should learn when to shut up."

"Is that right brat? Well I'll be doing the teaching from now on." He sent a vicious stream of attacks at the teenager each one harder than the last. Only succeeding to cover his pants and shoes in the kids blood.

"Ready to talk now?" He asked grinding his head into the floor with his boot.

"You s-hmgs ty'arder."

"What?" He lifted his boot to allow the kid to turn his head to the side spitting out blood as he did.

"I said you should try harder. Is that all you got?"

"What the hell." Teach scratched his head. "Act like a normal kid would you? Cry or something."

"I don't have anything to cry about." Luffy challenged.

"I can give you something." Teach said cracking his knuckles.

 **.**

Thatch was not having a good day. For starters he was pretty sure his wound was infected and it hurt like a bitch. Secondly he had no idea where Luffy was. Considering they shared a prison cell he did not take this as a good sign. No doubt Black Beard had a hand in this. Still what he could possibly want with the teenager was beyond him. As far as Thatch could see Luffy was just an ordinary teenager. But that was aside the point right now as his worry was growing every minute Luffy didn't come back.

Luffy had been helping treat his injury especially when it started showing signs of infection. However their combined limited medical knowledge made it difficult. Yet when he woke up this morning there was no sign of the teen. As far as he could tell there was nothing he could do to help his new friend, being that he was still stuck in this cursed cell and all. He had never felt so useless before and honestly he didn't like it.

He had no clue how long he waited in the cold cell before a loud banging distracted him. He scrambled to sit up, wincing when he moved too quickly. He backed against the wall as he heard the jangling keys click into the rusty lock.

"I see you're still alive as well." Blackbeard said unenthusiastically as he swung open the door.

Thatch ignored him and instead focused on the kid he was dragging behind him.

"What did you do to him!" He demanded trying to rise to his feet unsuccessfully.

"It's his own fault," Teach said roughly as he flung the unconscious body down to the floor. "He's stubborn as hell. I guess it runs in the family."

Thatch ignored him in order to crawl to the kid, leaning over him protectively.

"Feel better now that you beat up a teenager." He replied snarkly.

""I would feel better if he wasn't so damn determined." Teach responded angrily slamming the door leaving the two of them alone in the tiny cell.

Thatch frowned and turned back to the kid gingerly wiping blood off his cheek. Was this how they would die? Hurting and cold in this god forsaken cell. Their families never knowing what happened to them. No! No way. He had made a promise and god damn it he intended to keep it.

Once again pulling himself to his knees he tore off a section of his shirt soaking it in the dampest parts of their cell. He used it to clean off most of the blood and did all he could for the still bleeding cuts.

"Luffy wake up!" He insisted shaking the teens shoulder gently first and then rougher as he began to get worried. The kid just moaned and rolled away, muttering something about five more minuet. He smiled in relief and sat back on his heels. Thank goodness.

"Don't your go dying on me you hear!"

" m'not gonna die" Luffy mumbled barley coherent.

Thatch nodded, satisfied for the moment as he leaned back against the wall. He was a little concerned how good it felt against his flushed skin. The infection had probably spread, he had a fever.

'Dear family, hurry your asses up.' He thought desperately. They had never let him down before so why would they start now?

"Oi Luffy can you hear me?"

The kid groaned encouragingly.

"My turn. I'll tell you a story about the time I learned not to mess with Izo's hair. So make sure to pay attention okay."

When he was met only with silence he began talking. He wasn't sure if Luffy was listening or not but at the very least it was making him feel better. Filling the cell with happier times.

 **.**

 **Yay! I'll try to have next chapter out in a few days. It got a little dark and had copious amounts of swearing but it was meant to be an edgy chapter. Sorry I didn't respond to comments last chapter I didn't have enough internet to pull it off. If you are curious about something I once again have an internet plethora. Please tell me what you thought!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey friends. So do I owe you guys an apology or what! So after my stint as a summer camp counselor ended I moved to British Columbia to go to university (Biology major Psych minor) and damn collage is kicking my butt. It's so hard! So I have had zilch time to write which makes me extremely sad. But reading week is coming up next week (thanks Canada) so hopefully I will get my other stories going again. Thank you guys so much for being patient.**

…

" _Ace wake up."_

 _Ace moaned as he rolled over yet again. He felt a hand on his shoulder shake him insistently._

" _Ace wake up!" The voice repeated._

" _What is it Lu?" He yawned not even bothering to open his eyes. "Can't it wait for the mourning?"_

" _Scoot over,"_

" _Huh?"_

 _His eyes shot open as he felt himself being shoved over on the thin mattress. "What are you doing?"_

 _Luffy yawned as he settled down besides Ace. "I'm sleeping here." He told him obviously._

" _I see that! What I mean is why?" Never the less Ace scooted over slightly._

" _You were having bad dream." Luffy told him simply._

" _No I wasn't!" Ace insisted feeling his cheeks heating up. That sounded weak. "You were having a bad dream!"_

" _Nope!" Luffy told him honestly settling down at his side._

 _Ace frowned and looked away. He knew Luffy never had nightmares. Which was ironic considering he had every other problem known to man. Always hungry, abandonment issues, bad form, a weak left hook, tendency to fall off bridges and always in some form of life threatening trouble but somehow he never got nightmares. Comforting to know his mind wasn't trying to subtly drive him crazy like Ace's was._

 _He also knew he was having a nightmare. He couldn't remember it very well but he knew enough to know it was some pretty dark stuff. Still he would never admit it._

" _I don't need you to sleep with me." He fumed._

" _Mm-kay," Luffy mumbled already half asleep._

 _Ace sighed as he settled back down. Whatever. He knew Luffy wasn't the type to tell anyone…not like he had anyone to tell of course._

 _He would like to say this was the first time this had happened but it really wasn't. What he hated to admit even more was that this always helped him sleep soundly. Sure enough sharing his bed like a five year old kept the nightmares away. How pathetic was that?_

 _He tried so hard to look tough yet he never actually felt tough. The real surprise was how everyone else fell for it so completely. Apparently if you beat enough people up they forget that if he were actually strong he wouldn't have started a fight with them in the first place._

 _He glanced besides him at his sleeping brother. Luffy wasn't tough, he was a scared crybaby. But at least he wasn't a faker like Ace was. Ace had long since decided he could be tough enough for both of them as long as Luffy remained strong enough for both of them._

" _Thanks," He grumbled. Only after he was sure his brother was asleep_

 **XXX**

"Ace?"

Ace opened his eyes to see Marco standing a few feet away, concern clearly written on his face.

"What happened?" He asked rubbing the sleep out of his eyes as he stood up.

"Someone was tired." Marco told him dryly making his cheeks heat up.

"I was thinking about too much stuff," He defended embarrassed. He knew his friend was laughing at him internally.

"Too much indeed," Marco mused. "You fell asleep over a day ago."

"WHAT!" That was a new record. That was more of a shutdown than anything else. He hadn't had an attack that bad since Sabo died. Apparently things were that bad again. He gritted his teeth as he remembered why. Luffy was gone because of him, Thatch was in the same boat, although this was less his fault. They might kill his little brother, the last of his family and there was not much he could do to stop them. He was going to die regardless. Marco who he had dragged into this might also bite one. That was a hell of a way to pay back the Whitebeards. 'Hey guys I can't thank you enough for all your friendship and help…by the way I got your secound in command killed sorry.' But of course he would already be dead so there would be no apologizing.

"What are you giving me that look for?" Marco frowned.

"Sorry," Ace said as he dusted himself off, forcing his muscles to relax a little bit. He hadn't even realized he was giving his friend the death glare. The situation had him way to tense.

That wasn't even the worst part. There was something Teach didn't know about Luffy. Something that if he found out would guarantee his brother's death. Thankfully enough Luffy didn't know it. He was horrible at keeping secrets which was precisely why Garp decided to instead entrust Ace with this. But Teach had already proved resourceful enough to discover Ace's roots. Who was to say he couldn't do it again for Luffy.

Ace gave a low moan as he ran his fingers though his hair. In his life he had been in some pretty tight scrapes. There were even times where he was sure it was it for him. But this one was shaping up to be the worst.

"What are you thinking about?" Marco asked after the moments of silence.

Ace frowned as he searched his brain for a safe topic that wouldn't technically be a lie.

"How things used to be simpler when I was younger." He finally decided.

Not like he was ever carefree like most children. Even when he was ten he had to worry about things like where the next meal was coming from, gang wars, if he really should have been born…his dead brother. But he fixed all those problems with punching things. The only real thing he was good at. And when that wasn't enough and the problems plagued his mind he had his little brother who would always find a way to cheer him up.

But since he had become a pirate he found more and more often his problems couldn't always be solved with violence. And there was no Luffy to drag him back from the edge of his mind like before. This particular example was no exception. Right now it looked like he only had one option, to play as that man's errand boy in hopes Luffy and Thatch could make it out of this alive.

"So what's the plan? Where could we go to find strong and greedy people with questionable morals?"

"Probably here," Marco said looking around them. Sure this place looked good on the outside but when you looked closer you could see how cracked its foundation was. Where ever evil like tenryuubito resided lawlessness was bound to follow.

"Well I guess we can start with the bars?" Ace sighed as he started back towards the shadier parts of town.

Marco caught his elbow awkwardly stopping him mid step. "Ace…" he began only to be cut off.

"Yea yea, I know." Ace relented. "I'll tell you if something is wrong, we are a team, it's not my fault, we will save Luffy, the general spiel right?" He said forcing a relaxed smile on his face even as he tugged his arm free.

"I was going to say you were going to wrong way."

"Ah," Ace lamented as he set off in the opposite direction.

"Memorizing is not the same as learning," Marco said as he fell into step besides his friend.

"You're saying actions speak louder than words?" Ace guessed.

"I'm saying stop being an idiot." Marco corrected. "It leads to an early grave."

The irony was not lost on him yet he choose to ignore the advice. He felt the corners of his mouth twitch in a real smile. "That's like ninety percent of my personality. If you take that away you are just left with anger and a cow boy hat."

Marco sighed at his offered advice was ignored. Still he was glad Ace seemed to be feeling a little bit better. "An angry idiot in a cowboy hat then?"

"It's worked so far." Ace pointed out as he scanned the nearly deserted streets. "Rip Off," He read out loud. Might as well start here.

 **XXX**

"How are you feeling?" Thatch asked carefully as he watched Luffy stand up, pouting.

"I'm soooooo bored." The teen complained restlessly.

"I meant your injuries."

Luffy looked down at his bloody and bruised body with a shrug. "It's fine." He insisted.

"You don't look fine," Thatch frowned. He looked like he should be in the hospital. Then again so did Thatch.

He didn't want to admit it out loud but it looked like his stab wound was getting worse. It felt impossibly itchy and it was giving off an alarming amount of heat. Thatch was no doctor but he was sure that wasn't a good sign.

He turned back to Luffy watching the teen run a hand through his messy black hair obviously thinking about his missing hat. He huffed unhappily as he settled besides his friend.

"Luffy you have devil fruit powers right?" Thatch asked after a few seconds of silence.

The teen nodded distracted. His hands were still tied behind his back with the sea stone cuffs. Being the bastard he was Blackbeard had left them on when he dragged the injured Luffy back to the cell earlier.

Although he hadn't said anything Thatch could tell he was struggling with them being on so long. His breathing had grown increasingly heavy as well as his decreasing energy levels.

"Yep!" Luffy said as he leaned against the wall. "I ate the gum gum fruit!"

Thatch blinked stupidly. "…and what is that!"

"It means I am made out of rubber!"

"Ah…" Thatch finished at a loss for words. "Seriously? Who would want that?"

"I Do!" Luffy said defiantly.

"Right sorry." Thatch shook his head hoping he hadn't offended the kid. "So what kind of stuff can you do?"

"Stretch!"

"…neat," Thatch lied easily. He failed to see how that would come in handy but what did he know. It wasn't like you could pick which power you got.

The two sat in silence for a second until Luffy enthusiastically broke it.

"Hey! You're a pirate right?"

"Yea?" Thatch said a little surprised.

"That's so cool! The boy gushed. "I am going to be a pirate too..."

"Aren't you a little young?"

"When I turn seventeen!"

"That's not much better," Thatch sighed as he realized the boy was now ignoring him in favor of ranting about pirates."

"Look Luffy why don't you wait until your much older… twenty something at least.

Luffy made a face, "No way! That's way too long." Seeing Thatch's doubt he assured him with a simple, "it will be fine."

"What if you die?"

"It will be fine," Luffy repeated confidently making Thatch worry even more.

Even if Luffy survived the lunatic who had captured him his greatest danger was the idiotic things he was going to do in two years.

"Why do you want to be a pirate so bad?"

"I not just going to be a pirate." Luffy corrected him.

"Oh?"

"I'm going to be pirate king!"

"No." Thatch moaned slapping a hand over his face.

"What was that?" Luffy asked curiously.

"Nothing," The man promised him not wanting to appear unsupportive.

"You might have to fight the old man for it though."

Luffy tilted his head suddenly interested. "Who?"

"Whitebeard, my captain."

Luffy continued to give him the same blank stare. "Eh?"

"Don't tell me you have never heard of him!"

"He's some old guy then?"

Thatch frowned rubbing his temple. How was this kid going to be a pirate when he didn't even know the most basics of things?"

"Oyaji," He corrected. "Is known as the strongest man in the world. He is currently the closest to becoming pirate king. He is also my captain."

Whatever reaction he was hoping for he was not disappointed. Luffy shot up at the word strong and was suddenly hanging on Thatches every word.

"Fight?" His grin became impossibly wide. "That sounds fun."

This was not the intended message Thatch was trying to get across. Although there didn't seem to be a possibility of changing the kids mind. Besides it's not like Oyaji would hurt him like other pirates would. Maybe just share a little life wisdom.

"Well then Luffy when you become a famous pirate I guess we will meet on the sea huh?"

"Of course we will." Luffy flashed another one of his brilliant smiles. "We're friends after all."

Not for the first time Thatch had to marvel at Luffy's ability to smile so often and so brightly even when the situation seemed so dark. To talk about the future with such optimistic hope like they weren't trapped in a mad man's prison slowly dying on the cold floor. He would make a good pirate king. Thatch decided. Not as good as Pops of course but Thatch would like to see it happen one day.

"Alright then," He said returning the grin let's do it!"

…

 **So although not much happened in this chapter it still needed to happen so the characters could have a minute to collect themselves before the plot comes back. Pretty much Ace is being the same stubborn idiot he was as a kid and he needs Luffy more then he admits and Luffy is just really bored. I'm excited for next chapter when I get to write Ace's interaction with Rayleigh (fun for me not for Ace). On a side note please tell me what you want to see updated next because my not-so-accurate schedule was thrown out the window by this point. Anyways thank you so much for being so understand about that long break.**

 **(So in some other news I just turned nineteen which is awesome for two reasons! First and foremost I am the same age as Luffy! (Which is kind of sad when you consider what he's doing with his life while I write fanfic). But it is also drinking age in Canada Yay!)**


	8. Chapter 8

**(Sorry) I know it's been a long time. I've got no other excuse other than collage and how my grades are like demanding little children, except no-body is paying me to spend time with them. But it makes me so happy how so many people read this story! I promise I won't abandon it no matter how long some updates take.**

 *****I have an important question to ask you guys! How do you feel about having Sabo in this? So the plan is for him to be in one chapter in kind of a sad appearance. Do you want him to play a bigger role in this or stick to focusing on Ace and Luffy. I'm not exactly sure how this would go but I'm sure I could figure something out. Anyways please tell me what you think.**

 **XXX**

"So," Ace said wearily sitting down beside a rough looking man. "Are you down on your luck and looking for a high paying job with flexible morals?" The man threw him a look before sliding over to the next seat, only to be ambushed by Marco who wedged himself in the seats between them.

"So is that a yes or a no?" His friend questioned lazily resting his cheek on his hand.

"Leave me alone!" The man said angrily as he slammed his drink on the table and rose. The two watched him angrily storm out of the bar.

"Oops," Ace said sarcastically. Marco sent him an unreadable expression. "Maybe a bit more subtle next time my friend."

Ace smirked as he buried his head in his arms. He definitely did not want to do this. He wanted Blackbeard to fail miserably, he wanted him to taste defeat in every way. The last thing he wanted was to be helping the rat tail bastard. But Luffy and Thatch needed him. So he had to get his act together.

"Alright!" He said sitting up. "The next one will join for sure."

Marco jumped at the sudden mood shift in his friend. "If you say so," He too was having trouble with this. Doing Teach's job for him seemed counterproductive. The two of them were currently in a bar called 'Rip-Off,' which sounded like poor branding to him but then again who was he to judge. They had been at this all mourning with no luck.

"I'm going to go see if we might have better luck across the street," Marco told him rising to his feet. Ace nodded waving halfheartedly as he scanned the nearly empty bar. Probably a good idea. He was just about to get up as well as someone sat down heavily besides him.

"Huh?" Ace lifted his head in surprised to see a tall thin old man with long grey hair. 'This must be the owner,' he thought to himself.

"Sorry sir," Ace said fetching his cowboy hat from the table. He could guess the owner was probably less than thrilled about the shady recruitment Ace was so obviously advertising for.

The man however waved his hand in denial striking up an easy conversation. "Don't leave on my account. I'm just taking a little break from work.

"Ah," Ace said turning away once more to scan the room one last time for any strong looking criminals.

"Portgas D. Ace right?"

"Huh?" Ace turned around once more to face the man. This just took an interesting turn. Most people who knew his name weren't fans of his. Still he had never been once to back down from a fight.

"Yep, that's me." He clenched his fist under the table watching for any hostility on the others part.

"Oh good, I thought it was you." The man nodded appreciatively. "I've been meaning to introduce myself for some time now. "Silvers Rayleigh, It's a pleasure to finally meet you." He held out his hand which Ace reluctantly took.

"Nice to meet you too sir," Ace said with practiced politeness despite the confusion he felt inside.

After a few minutes of silence he followed it up with a; "Sorry but do I know you?"

"I'm afraid not. I'm a bit of a family friend from long ago."

"The Whitebeards?" Ace guessed now thoroughly confused.

"Nope, although we do go way back as well. I don't know if I would necessarily consider us friends."

"Garp?" Ace guessed halfheartedly.

Now it was Rayleigh's turn to give him a weird look. "Heavens no, although I hear he is a good man."

"I guess?"

"No, I was referring to your father of course."

Ace's mind went blank for a second as he searched his mind for any possibly alternate family affiliations.

He felt the blood rush to his cheeks as he once again tensed. Worse! Much worse than he originally thought.

Rayleigh frowned when he didn't respond for a couple of minutes. "Ace?"

Ace stood stiffly, his hands still clenched into fists but they remained at his side. He didn't want to talk about this, not here not not or ever for that matter. Still this was sort of a big deal, the thought of yet another stranger knowing his secret was not comforting.

"Family friend?" He asked softly.

Rayleigh nodded watching him thoughtfully. "I was your old man's right hand man back in the day." A fond smile flitted across his face.

Ace sunk back down into his seat wearily. "Are you going to tell anybody?"

To his surprise Rayleigh let out a quite laugh. "Who would I tell? Besides I'm sure I would be in just as much trouble as you, probably more so."

He nodded, that made sense to him. One less thing he had to worry about in this already chaotic day. Still the thought of someone knowing made his skin crawl.

"I've always wanted to meet you! I was getting worried that I would never have the chance."

"How did you know it was me?" There was a reason why he changed his last name after all.

"I knew your mother of course, a bit of a spitfire." He glanced at Ace curiously. "You would have liked her. You look just like her actually."

"Really?" He asked in disbelief. He had seen a picture once and he had to disagree.

"No, not quite. You look much more like Rodger when he was younger but you have her freckles."

"Ah," Ace finished lamely. He had no idea how to respond. This whole situation made him extremely uncomfortable.

"Now I've got a question for you." He continued when Ace didn't respond. "Why are Whitebeards top commanders doing Teach's dirty work?"

Ace looked up at him in surprise. He was more observant then he gave him credit for. "We, um, you know how it goes…pirates, betrayal, alliances." He swallowed thickly thinking how betrayal had suddenly taken on a new meaning to him.

Rayleigh nodded with a concerning amount of comprehension in his old eyes. "You know," he began thoughtfully. "This is only the second time I've seen that hat not on someone's head."

Ace blinked in confusion for a second before his gaze fell to the floor. His watermelon bag lay at his feet, the drawstrings had come untied showing just a patch of a worn out straw. Feeling protective of the tattered old thing he picked up his bag redoing the drawstrings before slinging it over his shoulder.

The old man watched with his ever constant veiled smile.

Ace opened his mouth to say something but before he could get a word out he was interrupted.

"Hey Ace, any luck?" Ace jumped as his friend thumped his back.

"I found a guy who might be interested if you want to come meet him."

Ace glanced up at Marco in surprise. He was acting casual but his usually calm demeanor had broken. He could sense a slight edge of apprehension. Apparently the two of them had already met.

"At least that's one down," Ace said standing up glad to be leaving. "It was nice to meet you sir."

Rayleigh just waved at the two of them as they left. "Come back for a visit any times boys."

Ace decided he liked that man, even if he was a friend of his father.

 **XXX**

Blackbeard sighed as he looked down at the messy table. Nothing… all the hours of research just to come up empty, what a waste of time. Scandals, deceit, blackmail, this was his sport and the ball was in his court. So why couldn't he seem to put the pieces together. He knew he was missing something, the final piece of the puzzle. He was so close he could feel. He closed the book with a slam casting an annoyed glance to the corner of the room. This would be so much easier if a certain someone would just chip in. If there was one thing Teach hated it was hard work. With another loud sigh he walked across the room to where the kids body lay, still and unmoving. He kicked him over with the toe of his boot looking for the gentle rise and fall of his chest. It would be no good if he died now, then what would he use to blackmail Ace with? He doubted the young man had many more exploitable relationships… Speaking of which the elder prisoner had caught himself a fever. He hadn't so much as stirred when they dragged the noisy kid from their cell this morning. He had been meaning to ask the doc to take another look at him but it had slipped his mind. He preferred the pirate alive, at least for now. All he needed now was for the two of them to just stop dying for like five minutes and obey him but apparently that was asking too much. Especially from Luffy. He rubbed him chin bitterly giving the unconscious teen a vicious kick to the ribs in return for the head-butt this morning.

He never considered himself a particularly vicious man. Unpathetic maybe but not downright evil. But unlike some of his acquaintances he didn't necessarily find joy in other's pain. It wasn't uninteresting but it failed to light a spark in his eyes. But then again Blackbeard did get bored sometimes. He leaned down to grab the kids bruised ankle tugging it upwards.

"Oi, get up!"

When he didn't so much as stir Teach narrowed his eyes. Apparently he had to do everything around here. Dragging Luffy by the ankle he made his way out of the stuffy blood stained room and down the long corridor.

For the last few weeks they had been using an abandoned military fortress as a hideout but now it was time to move on. He made a mental note to grab Thatch right after this, he would have Doc take a look at him and Luffy too while he was at it. It would appear that he had seriously messed him up this time. But he was still breathing so that was something.

"Seriously kid," he sighed aggravated. The problem was he was too much like his brother. The more time he spent with the teen the clearer the similarities were. It was in the way they both smiled, denied help when they were hurting and it was in those blood curling glares when they got angry. Idiots like this, the self-sacrificing good Samaritan type, were no surprise to Teach. He had seen their kind before. They lived brightly and burned out fast. No doubt this was where Luffy was headed. He had expected more from Ace but the way things were going that may have been misguided trust. From time to time he would see a familiar shadow behind his grey eyes. The eyes of a killer so angry and mistreated by the world. But that rare glimmer would quickly be swallowed up by mirth and cheer.

His eyes lazily scanned the grey horizon. The sun would be rising in a few hours. They would be long gone by then. He wasn't exactly thrilled about their ship as it was too small and battered in his opinion. Nothing like the ship that the future pirate king would sail on should look like but for now he would make due. He could always get Ace to get him a better one later. He smiled at the thought as he continued to drag the teen across the crumbling courtyard.

He dropped Luffy's leg when he felt the slight stir of tired muscles. He once again tried to wake him with a non-too gentle nudge to the ribs. Luffy moaned lightly in response.

"You alive?"

His already spent temper sparked when Luffy didn't respond.

"You're an idiot you know that right?" He couldn't wait to get a crew so he wouldn't have to do grunt work like this himself. Soon, he reassured himself, he would be able to order people to deal with the kid and all his idiotic idealisms. At the very least it would save him a headache and sore knuckles.

He glanced down at the teen, surprised that he had remained silent for so long. To his surprise Luffy wasn't even looking at him. Instead his head was turned to the side, his gaze transfixed at the docks a little ways from their make shift fortress. Or more specifically the ocean beyond that.

"Listen to me brat! I'm giving you some advice here! Smarten up a little would you? Maybe if you were a little more helpful we wouldn't have to rough you up so much."

Luffy turned away from the ocean for a moment to give the man a thoughtful look, rarely seen on his face.

"Shhh,"

"Huh?" Teach sent him a confused look. "What is it?"

"I don't like the sound of your voice." Luffy told him with his usually subtly and tact.

"Always the hard way with you huh?" Teach considered for a moment. He didn't seem to be responding to violence and pain, maybe it was time to try something else. He squatted down closer to Luffy's level, balancing his enormous weight on the balls of his feet.

"You know what kid?"

Luffy didn't respond, his attention was already back on the ocean. He seemed too tired even for his usual lame comebacks.

"Your brother is really worried about you."

Luffy's gaze flickered over to him. "Thatch as well," Teach continued.

"Their actually coming to get you," He turned away in hope Luffy didn't see the wide grin on his face. He could tell he had the teen's full attention now. "I can't comprehend how but they found out about our base…we were thinking about giving you back. I mean after we got some compensation of course. But you know I got to thinking. You really are the worst kind of brat and I would hate to see you get away so easily, especially without learning your lesson first." He turned back to Luffy a huge smile plastered on his face.

"So I think we are going to keep you instead." His grin grew wider when he saw the teens eyes grow wide. He once again grabbed his ankle dragging him along roughly towards the dock. Luffy yelled in response trying weakly to kick Teach with his free foot while his bound arms scrambled in the dirt desperate for some kind of hand hold.

Teach smiled to himself. He didn't know if Luffy completely believed him or not but the reaction was nice. Why hadn't he tried this sooner?

When they reached the docks he once again dropped his bruised leg in order to roughly lift him up by his shoulders. "We have a long trip and we don't need a brat like you running his mouth so shut up and for once in your life behave."

When Luffy tried to unsuccessfully bite him he dropped him in a wooden cargo crate, thoroughly unimpressed.

"Stay," he ordered, much like one orders a dog around.

Whatever Luffy's response was it was muffled as he slammed the lid shut once more, fastening it in place with a few dozen nails for good measure. He could hear the teenager continuing to shout and kick the sides frantically with his feet. Teach kicked the box over watching in satisfaction as it tumbled a few times. He turned away content, feeling like he had won that exchange. They wouldn't be leaving for a couple hours, plenty of time for him to get some much deserved rest. He frowned as he remembered Thatch but quickly brushed the thought aside. He would be fine for tonight…probably.

Content things were going according to plan he headed off. Leaving one of his underlings to deal with the rowdy cargo box. Somewhere at the bottom of the ship would do, where the air was stale and the floor was already flooded. He was curious to see how well Luffy would hold up with no food or water in a very special kind of solitary.

"Stupid brat," he muttered pushing the annoying kid out of his mind. Time to go mess with the older one as well.

 **XXX**

 **Kind of a dark chapter (sorry). Blackbeard was lying to Luffy about the Whitebeards coming. He was trying psychological torture because Luffy wasn't responding to pain.**

 **Yes, Rayleigh did know it wasn't Ace's hat. All he knows about Luffy is that the straw hat boy keeps popping up. The other time he was referring to was when he was talking to shanks about what happened to his hat and his arm and Shanks told him about Luffy.**

 *****In other news Sabo might make an appearance next chapter and Teach forgets which crate he puts Luffy due to poor organization skills.**

 **I might have said this already but if I missed/ didn't answer a question I am super sorry. I promise it was not intentional. It is a little hard to keep track of and I apologize. Please just ask again or tell me I skipped it and I will get right on it.**


	9. Chapter 9

Luffy groaned in frustration as he slumped to the bottom of the crate. He was soaked to the core with seawater and it felt like he couldn't breathe. He could hear the ocean outside knocking against the sides of the boat. A particularly harsh one sent him crashing into the side of the box. They hadn't taken the sea stone cuffs off although it hardly made a difference considering he was practically drowning as it was. He brought his knees to his chest resting is chin on the soaked fabric of his denim jeans. The crate was pitch black except for a few small holes where air and light could stream through. However he realized with mild panic that the water level had risen to the point that they were now just filtering seawater into the box.

Luffy wanted out of the box, he wanted fresh air and to be dry and warm instead of soaked and freezing. He also wanted to punch Blackbeard in his stupid face and take boshi back. But as hard as he tried he couldn't seem to do it on his own. What he really wanted was for Ace to come save him, make everything okay like he always did whenever Luffy got into trouble. He shook his head. He wasn't a little kid, he couldn't wait for Ace to come save him. Ace probably had his own friends, his own adventure and his own stuff to do. No! Luffy would get himself out of this one, Thatch too. No matter how miserable things were he learned long ago that the sadness never stayed forever.

He had no clue how long he had been in the box, it felt like a long time though. Judging by how hungry he was it was quite a few days. He couldn't help but wonder if they had forgotten about him. At the very least it meant they weren't picking on him anymore. Contrary to popular belief Luffy did not enjoy pain. Pain hurt him just like anyone else. The rubber skin helped to dull it but he still felt it every time. Now more than ever considering the sea stone cuffs and numerous injuries already cluttering his skin. But he recognized it as a necessary evil. It didn't hurt nearly as much as being alone did. If he was getting a beating then it usually meant someone he cared about wasn't which was reason enough for him. Now wasn't any different. At least when they hurt him it meant they weren't kicking Thatch around like they would when they got bored. Speaking of the man where was he? Luffy hadn't heard anything about him since he was put in this infernal box. In fact he hadn't heard anything at all since being put in the box. But it was ok, he reminded himself quickly. Although he was alone right now it wasn't like before. He wasn't alone alone, just lonely…and wet. He would get out somehow. Then maybe he would get to meet Thatches' family like the man promised. According to Thatch he had many many brothers and sisters. Luffy thought that sounded like a lot of fun, like a hundred Ace's and Sabo's running around. He smiled at the thought as he rested his back against the wooden wall of the crate. He passed most of his ample free time by imagining everything he was going to do when he got out. The first of which, after reclaiming Boshi and beating chess teeth silly, was eat as much food as his stomach would take. Or scratch that he felt like he should probably take Thatch to a hospital first as the man was not doing so hot. Luffy felt worry curl unpleasantly in his stomach as he thought of the older man. His condition started to worsen a few days before they departed the abandoned island. Thatch had begun to share some very personal stuff with Luffy for no apparent reason. Luffy had ignored this at the beginning, brushing it off as part of the man's sentimental personality. However soon the words turned from strange to nonsensical and Luffy realized something was seriously wrong with the man. It was later that Thatch stopped talking altogether and retreated into himself. Luffy tried to get someone's attention so they could send the Doc but Tech couldn't be bothered. The only time they had been paid any attention was when Blackbeard came to collect Luffy for one of his little 'learning experiences'. Teach had then proceeded to ask Luffy about secret family stuff? Whatever that meant. He doubted even Teach knew what he wanted Luffy to tell him. Further blackmail material as he called it. Luffy stubbornly refused to tell him anything, not that he knew anything to begin with. Apparently it was his family's policy to leave him out of those kind of secrets. Either way it had almost been worth it just seeing how worked up Teach got over Luffy's continued refusal to divulged information, or even ask for mercy. Luffy's dislike of the man had grown considerably during his imprisonment. What had started off as a strong mutual dislike soon turned to rage as boshi was taken and Thatch was mistreated. The rage however developed into something much deeper when Teach told him how he was planning to use Luffy to kill his brother. Few thing pissed Luffy off as much as being used for someone else's benefit did. But what was he to do about it? Loud voices pulled Luffy from his thoughts.

"Well how do you expect to pay for supplies when you spent all of our money on sake?" A shaky voice rasped.

Luffy stiffened at the sound. It was the closest he had come to human contact in days.

"Just trade in some of the useless crates." A deep voice bellowed back. Luffy gritted his teeth, it was Teach. Luffy had to cover his mouth to keep from grunting as a foot roughly kicked his container knocking him into the water.

"The flooding is so bad in here the stuff is probably wrecked anyways."

Luffy frowned, what were they talking about? Did they really not remember he was down here? They were probably pretty drunk he reasoned. Considering that's how they spent the majority of their days it wasn't a huge stretch. That would also explain the slurred speech. He heard the Doc mutter a grunted okay as he began sloshing through the water pulling ruined crates of waterlogged food back up the ships stairs. Luffy bit his tongue as he felt his box being lifted. He heard their heavy boots creak the stairs as they carried him above deck and once more into sunlight. He hadn't realized how much he had missed fresh air until now. He filled his lungs greedily with a huge smile on his face, the first one in many days. He could hear the busy bustle of port and the chirping of the seagulls overhead. However he didn't have very long to be happy about it before the crate was literally thrown overboard. Luffy yelped in surprise as the wooden box collided with the weathered wood of the dock. Thankfully his yell was masked by the smashing of wood against wood as both the dock and the box splintered.

He shook his pounding head trying to clear it as he pushed his feet against the cracked side of the shipping crate. He could hear the wood moan and splinter under the pressure as the side began to cave.

"Say boss?" The Doc questioned lazily.

'just a little more!' Luffy thought, his face red with effort.

"Wasn't the kid in one of those crates?"

Luffy yelped triumphantly as the broken side finally caved under the weight, separating from the rest of the box with a reluctant crack. This did not fail to catch the attention of the two kidnapping pirates who turned their hawk like attention to him dumb founded.

Luffy however was unaware of this as he was immediately blinded by the immense sunlight pouring into what used to be pitch black. Knowing he didn't have time to linger with the pain he scrambled to his hands and knees crawling out of the box, tear streaming from his light sensitive eyes making it hard to see anything besides blurry shapes. Still he forced his aching body to get up and make a break for it. He could hear the furious yelling behind him as they gave chase.

"You imbecile! How could you forget which box I put him in! After him."

Luffy could hear the Doc and Teach lumbering after him. He was definitely faster than them but his muscles were crying out from misuse. He ducked around the corner only for him to crash into someone. He swallowed a groan as the impact sent him sprawling to the ground with an oddly rattling thud. Although he wouldn't admit it the rough treatment of the last few weeks was taking a toll on him, a tiny spill like that would usually be nothing but now he found himself struggling to rise again. He body was shaking so hard he was having trouble sitting up.

He vaguely heard the man offer him an apology which he ignored.

Instead he sat up scanning behind him for his captors. Not that it did much good, his still blurry vision could only make out dull shapes.

Suddenly the man was right beside him, loudly trying to get through to him. Luffy looked up at him startled. Not that it mattered, he was just a dark blob, although he did sound concerned. The blob said something else, asking if he needed a doctor to which Luffy opened his mouth to decline when a loud shout cut him off.

"GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE."

'Oh right, them." Luffy thought as he pushed himself to his feet, forcing his trembling leg to carry him away from his captors. He tore his way through the harbor trying to avoid further collisions. He heard a crash behind him but he refused to look back. This was his chance! He had a shot to help Thatch and his brother but he didn't stand a chance without food…not to mention the sea stone cuffs. 'Don't worry Thatch! I'm coming.' Just after a snack and when he felt a little less light headed.

Luffy refused to stop running even after he meandered his way out of the crowded area and worked his way to the deserted outskirts of town. The angry cries of Teach and Doc Q had faded out long ago but he knew they would continue to search the town for him.

He frowned at the thought as he came to a reluctant stop, his legs shaking so badly they threatened to cave under him. Apparently if you spend a few days in freezing water without food in a tiny cargo box your legs don't work so well afterwards. You really do learn new things every day.

He scanned the area thinking with a heavy heart that there was no sign of food. He may have ran too far. His stomach growled loudly in protest. He would have to risk going back if he wanted to eat. He turned back down the alleyway only to trip on his own fatigue. He fell ungracefully onto his stomach feeling very sleepy. Apparently food could wait until after a nap. The last thing he registered was the rumbling of thunder far in the distance.

He didn't even notice as it began to rain, slowly at first and then intensely as he was once again soaked to the bone. Lighting cackled overhead but he managed to sleep through it, still as the dead. He didn't wake up even at the rousing of the concerned bystander who was growing quite worried.

 **XXX**

It was well into the evening when Luffy finally awoke. He dimly realized that he was finally out of the cold, in an abandoned warehouse by the looks of it. But at least he was no longer shivering. He sat up curiously and looked down at his chest. His shirt had been removed and all his wounds tightly bandaged. His shorts were still wet but they too were slowly drying. Someone had put their coat around him, it was a little big but it was keeping him warm. Unfortunately his hands were still tied together with the cuffs. He felt the pockets weighed down by something and reached in, surprised to find an array of items. The first was a note hastily scrawled in fancy handwriting.

' _Don't go anywhere that man is still after you. I have to go do something real quick but stay here and I will be back to help you.'_

 _-S_

Luffy frowned as he put the note down and fished around more in the pockets. He also found some food, which he quickly polished off, and some pain pills which he ignored. He shrugged off the coat and located his still damp shirt, which by this point was so damaged it was barley a shirt anymore as whoever helped him had cut it off to get to his injuries so he decided not to bother with it. He wanted to go back to sleep, just for a little bit as his head was pounding so much he couldn't think strait. But he didn't have time to be sleeping, not when Thatch needed him. If he was going to do this he needed to be smart about it. He couldn't do this his way. Even at his best he couldn't take these guys down. He had already repeatedly tried and failed. Despite the fact he was itching for a rematch he couldn't do that to Thatch. So he would have to think like someone else.

Luffy slipped out of the abandoned building and back onto the street. The sun had set a while ago creating an optimal sneaking around atmosphere. Luffy glanced both ways confused where he had ended up, was the port that way or back up the road? Was he even in the same town?

What would Ace do? Ace wouldn't have gotten caught in the first place. Luffy thought annoyed. But he would go right back and save Thatch, letting him escape while he battled Teach. Right! Luffy started down the road, hopefully towards the ocean. But wait? He wasn't strong like Ace yet, if he tried that he would probably lose again. He pouted as he came to a stop. Ace didn't believe in running away, he thought it was a sign of weakness but it seemed like Luffy's best bet so maybe he should think of something else. What would Sabo do? He was always the smartest. He did run away sometimes but only when it was smarter to do so then to stay and fight. But Luffy couldn't run away, not when those bastards had Thatch. So he had to think like Sabo. What he needed was help. Except experience had taught him that there were few people in the world who would help him and he had no clue where any of them were. So it looked like he was on his own. Sabo would probably do something like wait for them to fall asleep and the break Thatch out. Luffy thought for a moment. Yea… that would do it.

He started running back down the open road hopefully heading straight for the sea, ready to go rescue Thatch. Completely oblivious to the added weight to his forehead.

 **XXXXXXX**

Sabo frowned as he read over the mission instructions. Honestly he couldn't read Hacks hand writing. Did this say save the duke or slay the duke? Who was the idiot that put him in charge of writing the assignment dossier? Considering the chief of staff was responsible for doling out jobs then he was that idiot. But then again Koala didn't immediately correct him and redo it herself so he figured this was partially her fault. He ought to save the duke just in case, that way he could slay him later.

He was so intent in deciphering Hacks handwriting he didn't look where he was going, not until he ran smack into someone. He yelped in surprise as the impact sent him sprawling to the ground. Rubbing his back in annoyance he dusted himself off offering a polite apology. To his surprise the person he had bumped into hardly seemed to register him. He was just a kid. A kid who was having a rougher day then Sabo by the looks of it. For starters he was very thin and he was soaking wet and shaking like a leaf.

"Hey kid are you okay."

The teen looked up at him, startled. His face, like the rest of him, was bruised and bloody. His lip was split and bleeding sluggishly as well as a huge gash above his eye. Not to mention the hand cuffs around his wrists.

In an instant Sabo felt flooded by an inordinate amount of rage. The likes of which he couldn't remember feeling before. But just as quickly as it came it was gone.

"Do you need a doctor?"

The teen opened his mouth to respond but before he could there was an angry yell behind him.

"GET YOUR ASS BACK HERE!"

Sabo looked back surprised to see a burly man racing full speed down the street towards them. Startled the teenager tried to pull himself to his feet only for his wobbly arms to collapse under him. Sabo grabbed his arm and hauled him to his feet, standing in front of the kid and the approaching man. A gesture the teenager apparently did not recognize as protective as he took off down the crowded street. Sabo watched him go startled.

"Don't just stand there!" The man cried angrily as he lumbered by them, grab him."

None of the passersby payed any attention to the request. In fact they went out of their way to purposely ignore the suffering boy and his attacker. 'You can always count on civilians to do the right thing,' Sabo thought sarcastically as he crossed his arms, purposely stepping in front of the burly man blocking his path.

"You have a problem punk?"

"No," Sabo admitted honestly, stalling as he shifted his weight.

"Then get out of my way!" The man moved to step around Sabo only to be once again blocked.

"Last warning before things get ugly." He said pulling his pistol out from his belt.

"Fine," Sabo said stepping aside. He didn't want to draw any attention to himself by starting a street brawl right before a covert mission. He was a professional after all. The kid was out of sight, which should have been enough of a head start for him to get away. Still as the man brushed passed Sabo couldn't help but trip him. He watched as the man adamantly cussed him out, promising a slow death should they meet later. He watched him disappear down the street after the kid before slowly collecting his scattered possessions and walking back down the street. He did all he could it was time to get back to the mission. 'The kid would be fine,' he told himself once again before stowing the map back in his pocket.

"Screw it!" He cried in annoyance as he took out his pipe once again changing directions and began running after the two of them. 'screw it screw it SCREW IT!"

He had to give it to the kid, he sure could run. It took Sabo longer then he anticipated to finally catch up. The teenager was more hurt then Sabo realized. He had managed to allude the big scary man but for how long was anyone's guess. He had found him passed out in an alleyway. By this time the rain had picked up a lot completely soaking Sabo as well as the kid. Although there was an impressive lightning show overhead.

"Come on kid," Sabo said as he knelt down trying to wake him up. "That man can find you out here."

His only response was a groan of annoyance as Sabo once again tried to wake him.

"Well I'm not just leaving you here. Come on let's try to find some place safer, then you can sleep." The teen didn't respond so Sabo pulled off his coat pulling it around the shivering boy as he grabbed his arm pulling it around his shoulder.

 **XXXXXXXX**

"Ta-daah!" Marco said unenthusiastically showing Ace their two new recruits, a fat man with an equally fat nose named Vasco Shot and a horsed faced sharpshooter who went by Van Augur. The two of them looked Ace up and down seemingly unimpressed.

"Is this that Teach guy? He doesn't look so scary to me."

Ace ignore them In order to address Marco, "them plus that wolf giant you found last week makes three then?"

Marco nodded as the two of them internally groaned. Their two weeks were more the half gone and they still needed more than four people. Plus even if they found seven people they were no closer to saving Luffy and Thatch.

"Ace, I know you don't want the others to get involved but we need help. We might need to ask Oyaji."

"If he finds out I had help…" Ace trialed off not needed to say the implied threat.

"But if we fail to find four more people he will definitely take it out on them." Marco reminded him.

Ace nodded running his hand through his hair stressed. This was not his idea of a fun time. Not to mention everything he did led him closer to his inevitable death and possibly Luffy's as well if Teach found out his final secret. Which would mean breaking both his promises to his brothers and being a total failure in both life and death all the while simultaneously hurting the Whitebeard pirates and failing to save Thatch. Best big brother ever!

"What do you have in mind?"

"Well hopefully Pops will have some better contacts. Don't worry."

Ace threw his friend as big of a smile as he could manage, which was weaker than his typical trademark grin. Still he couldn't help but feel a warm surge of gratitude towards his friends. 'Wish you could see this Lu,' he thought with a smirk. He had a feeling his brother would fit in rather well with his friends.

 **XXX**

 **It's nearly been three months since my last update which isn't too impressive. In my defense those three months were a really dark time in my life known as the great final exam era. Wealth, Dental, twenty bucks an hour. Capitalism, the king of unevenly distributed wealth, attained this and everything else the world had to offer and its boring words drove countless chumps to collage. "You want my dental plan and vacation benefits? Very well you can have it. I left everything I have in an institute of higher learning, you just have to school. These words lured students from all over the world to the gym in search of a salary greater then they dared to imagine, this era was known as the great final exam era! And that is why your chapter is so very late. But I really am sorry.**

 **So originally when I was feeling more vindictive this was going to be Sabo's only appearance. Where he bumped into Luffy, his instincts drove him to help Luffy out despite not being able to remember his brother. Only for Luffy to be gone by the time he got back. But when I asked it sounded like most people wanted to see more of him in the story. At least I think they did? So I'm leaning towards a slightly larger role. Anyways I hoped you liked the chapter** **I made it longer to make up for my prolonged absence. Please tell me what you thought!**


	10. Chapter 10

**Happy One Piece 20** **th** **anniversary! The series we all love so darn much. Out of everything created in 1997; Naruto, Deans car, Pokémon, me, and harry potter, One piece is by far the best.**

"Find that damn kid or you will regret it."

Teach's voice seemed to carry across the ship and permeate into every crevice. Which made Luffy both angry and a little worried at the same time. He couldn't be found out so soon. Not until he found Thatch. By some miracle he had found the ship once more and boarded while everyone was out searching the streets for him. Apparently they did not expect him to come back here, who was the dumb one now? Unfortunately while he was partway through searching below deck they had returned, angry, disgruntled and ready to start a fight. Luffy had no choice but to duck into the nearest room. Which was Teach's office. Luckily enough that was where the prison keys were kept. Unfortunately the sea stone keys weren't with them.

As footsteps approached Luffy crouched down near the desk, resting his chin on his knees as he watched the shadows move under the closed door. Furious voices drifted through thin wood to reach his ears.

"He mustn't get far! We can't let him get away."

To his vast relief the footsteps didn't stop and instead continued past the door and down the hallway.

Luffy let out a breath of air he hadn't realized that he was holding as he pushed himself back onto his hands and knees, continuing his crawl towards the door. He had no way of telling where they were on the ship, if they even were on the ship but it would have to be okay.

Luffy was half way to the door when a familiar ringing sound caught his attention.

'Peda peda peda peda.'

"Boss did you hear something?" A far away voice asked.

Luffy froze, glancing back at chess teeth's desk.

'Peda peda peda peda peda.'

Without waiting any longer he stood up making a dash for the snail that rested innocently on the corner of the desk, snatching it up just as he heard heavy footsteps approaching the cabin. Ducking back under the desk he answered the snail, if nothing else but to quite it's calling.

"Was that your den den boss?" A voice just outside the door asked.

"I could have sworn it was." The voice replied to a question too far away for Luffy to hear.

"You're hearing things you dumb baffoon." Luffy heard Teach's response that time.

He waited once more as the footsteps slowly began to recede, hopefully for good this time.

"SPEAK! I have little time for your games today." Boomed a deep voice.

Luffy jumped in surprise nearly dropping to den den. He had forgotten someone was on the other line. He felt annoyance well up in his chest at them for inconsiderately trying to get him caught.

"SHHHHHH!" He hissed back way louder then he intended.

There was a few moments pause before the person on the other line came back angrier then before.

"HOW DARE YOU SHUSH ME, YOU CALLED ME YOU BRAT!"

"You were being too loud!" He insisted firmly, defending his initial stance of annoyance. All thoughts of stealth were forgotten.

Instead of a fiery retort like he had been expecting he instead got a pause. When the man spoke again his voice was much quiter, and more patient.

"You're not Marshal I take it?"

"You mean Chess teeth?" Luffy asked wondering how a man that evil could have a name like Marshal.

He heard a series of gruff noises that could only be laughter. He had managed to amuse the man on the other end. What he had said was any bodies guess though. Still Luffy decided he was forgiven for nearly ruining his hiding spot.

"So not one of his lackeys then?"

"Huh? What kind of idiot would do that?" He asked honestly earning himself another laugh from the man ,although he still didn't think he said anything particularly funny.

"So what's your name then? What are you doing with Teach's communicator?"

Luffy was about to respond when he heard the sound of an argument somewhere above deck. He should probably be paying more attention to when Teach would return to his office. He scanned the room looking for something to use as a weapon to surprise the man should he come knocking again.

"Are you still there?"

Luffy's dark eyes saw something he had missed before, a mirror. Except this one was the cabinet type that you could open. The mayor used to have one in his office. Luffy liked to go through it when he wasn't looking.

"Hey, are you still with me?"

"Hmm?" Luffy questioned bringing the forgotten Den Den back up to his face.

"Tell me what's going on?" The man on the other line said, his voice much kinder then when he first answered the call.

Luffy had once been told he had a habit of oversharing on Den Dens but personally he didn't see it.

"I'm looking for a key." He said opening the mirror.

"Why do you have Marshals Den Den Mushi?"

"Because it was ringing and I needed it to be quiet." Luffy told him absentmindedly, rummaging through the cabinet. As far as he could tell it was full of medicine just like the mayors had been. But maybe this was a good thing. There was still no key but wasn't Thatch sick? And didn't medicine make people feel better? Luffy could give the medicine to Thatch so he would feel better and then they could run away together…once he found his key.

There was silence from the other end of the line followed by an audible sigh. Past experience had taught Luffy that meant he was irritating someone, historically through a combination of misread social cues and his own 'unique blend of personality.' Luffy thought his frustration was unfounded, he had called him after all.

"I got that," The man's voice was fighting to stay patient. "Why do you need to be quiet?"

"Cause I'm hiding from him." Luffy mused reading a label on one of the bottles. Were these even real words? Oxy-co-done? What was that, like a pill form of meat or something? Maybe this dude would know, not like he had been that helpful up till now.

"Hey, you sound old." Luffy told him. Old people tended to know more things after all. "What's Oxycodone?"

"It's a painkiller." The irritation was gone, replaced now by worry. "Are you alright, are you hurt?"

Luffy glanced down at himself. He had been bandaged up pretty well and whatever he had been given seemed to do the trick as he was feeling better. The food had certainly helped as well. But his legs still trembled with every step and moving his chest too much made black spots invade his vision and make his head all light dizzy.

"M'fine." He decided. He had had worse. "But my friend is sick, he needs medicine. What should I give him?"

"What's he sick with?"

"I don't know he's just started crazy talking. And he's really hot."

"Infection." The man told him. "That's given way to a nasty fever. Erythromycin and Paracetamol are your best bets if you've got them."

Luffy pursed his lip wondering if the man helped him or sneezed. Maybe he was messing with him. Usually he loved a good pranking but right now wasn't the time. He was about to hang up on the no good hooligan when a blue bottle caught his eye.

"Ery-throw-my-seen?" He sounded out carefully. Surely that wasn't a word. He tucked the bottle in his pocket with the oxycodone.

"Are you in trouble? Do you need help? Is he threatening you too?"

Luffy was only half listening as he looked for the last bottle. He wished there was food in here.

"What's your name kid?"

"Luffy," Luffy told him putting the snail on his shoulder so he could have both of his hands free.

There was a long pause from the other end, so much so Luffy thought he had hung up. He was about to count his losses when the snail snapped back to life, more urgently this time.

"Luffy listen to me you have to get out of there right now. Even if you have to swim for it. You cannot stay there with that man."

He rolled his eyes as he shut the medicine cabinet, convinced that they didn't have the one that started with P. As far as he could tell pills were supposed to fix you, so the more you had to more fixed you became right? Maybe he should grab all of them and see what happened?

"I told you, I can't leave my friend."

"You can't fight him." His voice was commanding and intense. Even over the Den Den Luffy could feel the authoritative aura that seemed to radiate from his voice.

"Leave now child, there is nothing you can do for your friend."

A lesser man would have cowered, a lesser man would have caved. But there was nothing 'lesser' about Luffy and if there was one thing he hated it was people who told him to abandon his friends.

"NO!" He stamped his foot, somewhat childishly. But he couldn't bring himself to care right now. This man needed to know that friends can't abandon each other.

"Put aside you foolish thoughts boy. The best thing you can do you friend right now is escape. You stand no chance against Teach. When he finds you he will not spare you simply because you are a child. He will torture you, he will torture your friend and he will use you to hurt your loved ones."

"I know that!" Luffy snapped. He wanted to leave so badly. He wanted to take a long nap, he wanted real food, he wanted to be dry, he wanted to be out of the crate, the dark and the cold. The thought of having to go back to that hellish box made him shutter. How could that stupid man sit there in, what were most likely, dry clothes and lecture him about consequences.

And then there was Ace. Black Beard had told him straight out that he was only here so he could get Ace to obey him. And then once they were done with him he would either join them or Teach would kill him. Luffy hate hate HATED the thought that he was being use to hurt Ace. That he could lose his big brother. The only one he had left… But as much as he despised it the facts were simple. Luffy never, and I mean never, abandoned his friends to save himself. Not now and not ever. People who did stuff like that were the ones he hated most of all.

"You," He said, mimicking the man's absolute tone to the best of his ability, "Cannot tell me what to do. I am going to go help Thatch, then we both will escape or we both will get caught trying."

No response to that one huh? Satisfied he had won the argument Luffy put the Den Den back in its original spot. He was about to hang up when the man responded once more.

"Wait," His voice had lost all of its authoritative quality and now he just sounded tired and very old.

Luffy really didn't have time for this crap, still he would feel bad about hanging up on someone when they sounded like that. That would be rude as Makino said.

"Is he alright…"

"Nope I think he's dying." Tact was not one of Luffy's strong suits.

"…"

"That's why I'm giving him medicine."

"I see." A few awkward beats passed between them and Luffy was starting to get impatient. He didn't have much time and he still needed to find the key to the sea stone cuffs or else apparently he would be stuck like this forever.

"Tell me son. Do you have any clue of where you are?"

"Yea we're in some town called Jaya, it's in the Grandline."

"How do you know this?" The man asked surprised.

"I saw it on a sign."

"You got to shore?"

"Umm," Luffy confirmed. "Really far. It took me forever to find the ship again."

Another awkward pause passed and Luffy half expected to receive another lecture. But instead he got a quite laugh.

"I understand. We are still far away but we are on our way as fast as we can."

Wait what? "You're coming here? Why?"

"I forgot to tell you," The voice boomed. "My name is Edward Newgate, but my children just call me Oyaji I am Thatch's captain. It is nice to meet you Luffy…"

"Monkey D. Luffy." Luffy supplied him with a grin. "Thatch told me about you guys."

"D huh? That figures…" Whitebeard mused to himself. Marshal and Luffy were probably tearing each other apart.

"Go swiftly Monkey D. Luffy, and you have my thanks for helping my son."

"Don't worry about it." And he knew he meant it.

And just like that Luffy was gone, no doubt determined to carry out his impossible task without a moment of hesitation or fear.

He rose from his desk to go give the order for departure to his children.

"They really are brothers." He thought aloud. They were two of a kind.

Little did he know.

 **XXX**

 _It was night outside. He could tell that much. He could see the stars in the sky and feel the humid summer air brush against his face. The sound of the nighttime cicadas drifted through the trees creating a soft rhythm. He was still half asleep. He vaguely registered two bodies on either side of him. He groaned, it was too hot for this extra insulation. He pushed a stray arm off of his chest and rolled over onto his side where the mat beneath him was cooler._

 _His peace was disturbed a few moments later when a foot smacked him in the face. Oddly enough he was used to it. He yawned, kicking back in the general direction for good measures and receiving a sleepy mumble of 'sorry'. And all was right with the world._

" _Sabo," A lighter voice asked._

" _Mhm," He mumbled back sleepily._

" _S'rry about your goggles."_

 _Sabo nuzzled his face into the mat beneath him._

" _Z'okay." He told the mattress. He would rather go back to sleep. They were just goggles he had fished out of the trash after all. He was as sentimental about them as one could get about someone's throw aways. Besides it was nothing he couldn't fix._

" _Kay."_

 _And they lapsed back into silence once more._

Sabo woke up with a yawn, stretching his tired limbs. Weird dream he thought as he stood up.

The Duke was successfully slayed. Mr. Duke turned out to be so incredibly annoying and stuck up there was no way anyone would actually write 'save' before his name. So he had made an executive decision. One that greatly improved his headache. If he got in trouble he would blame it on Hack's handwriting.

He had hurried back as fast as he could but as it turned out it didn't make the difference. The kid was gone. Apparently the kind of trouble that boy was in was of the 'disappear in the night variety.' There was nothing he could do, it was out of his hands. So why did he feel like this then?

He grabbed his hat from besides him as he left the warehouse. He was meant to check in yesterday but things had gotten in the way. No use doing it now, he would receive the lecture from Koala either way. It was time to head back to base and take his lumps from her in person. Maybe then he could finally get some sleep aside from the hour catnaps he managed to grab here and there. Koala called him a workaholic. That was probably a faire observation.

His boots clicked across the floor, taking him back to the outskirts. He had summoned the ravens a few hours ago so they must be close by now.

'You're making a mistake.' His mind chided him.

"It's out of my hands." Sabo reminded himself and that annoying part of his brain called the conscience. The kid truly was gone. Sabo would know he had looked after all. It was anyone's guess why he was so invested in this.

Although he did feel a twinge of remorse as he remembered the kids face, He was hurt, he was scared and now he was alone again. He felt the same spark of rage as before but he pushed it down. What the hell was he doing?

"Let it go Sabo." He told himself sternly. When he got back to base, **IF** his conscience was still bugging him then he would take a look at some bounty posters and try to match the ugly mug with an equally ugly name. But that was a long shot.

He looked up to see the familiar dark shadows circling above him. The ravens were here. He reached up instinctually for his goggles only to remember halfway through the gesture. Oh that was right, he had given them away.

He climbed on the leaders back, sitting crossed legged as the flock took flight. Soaring above the forest which gave way to the town and eventually the sea. The fresh air stung his eyes making him remember their one good use.

'Maybe it wasn't a dream after all.'

He had always wondered how the strap had broken, and then subsequently been sewed back together. 'One mystery solved,' he thought sarcastically.

So was that like… a real memory? That was new. Maybe he would get them all back one day.

Sabo had never made an effort to recover them. As far as he could tell there was nothing worth salvaging. Dragon told him he had been a miserable noble child who had tried to run away. And was unfortunate enough to run into a tenryuubito and his fancy golden gun.

Overall it didn't sound like anything very memorable there. Probably just a lot of boring politic lessons and the mastery of skills no one would possibly ever need. Like the mastering of the mandolin, which had come as an unwelcomed surprise a few years back. Not to mention the feint scars on his back. Sounded like noble parenting at its finest.

He shook his head. What did it matter to him now? Just like those goggles he had fished out of the trash and kept all these years? Just sentimental B.S. that he thought was beneath him. Although if he was being honest he rather liked the way the broken strap made the lenses wobble. It was very…flawed.

 **XXX**

 **Way to break his goggles Luffy. You guys really liked Sabo and you asked to see more of him so here is what he's up too. It's not overly exciting but things will pick up as he easily finds Blackbeard's wanted poster and realizes how much danger Luffy is really in. His brotherly instincts are fighting so hard to go save him, even if he has no clue why. Don't worry, Ace is near and things will start to heat up really quickly for him as Teach decides he's not suffering enough. To celebrate chapter ten, which doesn't sound so impressive, this story has some new cover art, which I swear looks much better in real life as my very limited skills extend to colored pencils only and no digital anything. But it's foreshadowing. Next chapter should be up much soonish.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Please forgive me for yet another long absence. University is going to kill me. On top of two midterms a week I decided getting a job was a great idea and for a long time, I was far too busy to eat or sleep. It was so stressful I thought I was going to crack. But I survived, barely. Anywho please forgive me. I desperately hope to start updating this story once or twice a month again. The chapters are also going to be longer because exciting stuff is happening!**

 **XXX**

Sabo flipped aimlessly through the pile of papers bored out of his mind. Koala had been angry with him for missing his check-in and making her worry but today he brushed it off in favor of heading straight to the library to search through stacks of paper. To his extreme annoyance that nagging voice at the back of his mind hadn't gone away if anything it was stronger. Telling him he had betrayed that kid. He shook his head, tired of this.

"That's it!" he decided. "I'm calling it."

"I'm really leaving!" he told the empty library.

He slammed the book beside him shut in was this an issue? The kid probably just ran away right? He was safe at home while Sabo freaked out. So that's it right! Just leave it there.

Except no. What if he had been jumped while escaping. What if he never even managed to escape in the first place and they found him when he was knocked out. He had been in really bad shape, what if his injuries had done him in first? What if he hit his head and fell into the ocean.

Sabo banged his own head against the table. Since when was he an overbearing mother hen? He was supposed to be a badass, an eighteen-year-old wonder kid in terms of tactical skill and fighting power.

' but I never even got to say goodbye.' The small thought popped inexplicably into his head.

So? He reasoned. Not like he even knew the kid's name. Still, he opened the book once more with an angry grumble. The universe had called his bluff.

Stupid Duke. He thought for the millionth time.

He was halfway through his fifth archive book, each of which had over a thousand pages comprised of all the recorded wanted posters the military had released dating back over fifty years. Needless to say, he was bored out of his mind and he still had nearly twenty books to go.

"Is this another one of your obsessive fits?" A new voice spoke up, shattering his concentration.

"I don't have obsessed fits," he shot back not bothering to look up. He knew who it was.

Koala rolled her eyes as she made her way across the room to perch on the edge of the table. "Right," She said unconvinced, "That's why 'you've been here for nearly twelve hours."

"Really?" Sabo asked tilting his head up. He hadn't realized it had been that long.

Koala sighed as she put the stack of papers in her arms down in order to reach into her pocket. "Girls don't like obsessed guys Sabo." She told him sternly. "How will you find a girlfriend if you spend all of your time locked away in the library?

Now it was his turn to roll his eyes as he rested his cheek on the book. Being a year older than him Koala had taken it upon herself to try and mother hen him on occasion. Lately, she had decided, with all her maternal wisdom, that Sabo's lack of a girlfriend reflected poorly on her parenting skills so she gave him incessant pointers whenever she could.

"Guys don't like girls who micromanage." Sabo shot back.

He knew he was literally the only person who could get away with saying something like that to her. Anyone else would get a mouthful of her fist. There were some benefits of being best friends after all.

"So I guess you don't want this sandwich I grabbed for you then? You did miss like two meals."

Sabo shot up, suddenly very interested. He had completely forgotten how hungry he was. "I take that back," He said as she handed him the neatly wrapped handkerchief. "Any guy would be lucky to have you." So long as they didn't anger her, but he kept that part to himself.

She just smiled, "You're always nice to me when I bring you food." She pointed out.

"Which you do often which is why you're so great." He said between mouthfuls.

"Well, unfortunately, that's not just a friendship sandwich."

"What do you want?" He asked distractedly. She had learned long ago that if she fed him he would do almost anything for her in return. Which is why all her acts of food came with strings attached.

"Can you sort these?" She gestured to the stack.

"What are they?" Sabo asked finishing off the last of his sandwich.

"Just some updated bounty posters."

"Sure," Sabo said rubbing his tired eyes. Even without the food offering, he had a hard time saying no to her.

He rummaged through the stack absentmindedly. There was a lot here, it would probably take him all night….Wait for what?

Sabo slammed the papers down and shot up startling Koala.

"What is it?" She cried alarmed as he read and re-read one of the bounty posters. He ignored her for the moment to surprised to respond.

Marshal D. Teach with a new bounty of 85 million Berries.

"Who is he!" He demanded turning to face Koala's surprised face.

"Sabo, what's wrong?"

"Who is HE!" Sabo repeated pushing the picture closer to her face.

"I don't know! Some Whitebeard lackey, calm down Sabo."

At the name Whitebeard Sabo felt his heart drop painfully out of his chest. That boy was involved with the Whitebeards. He was in more trouble than Sabo had imagined. What on earth would such a notorious pirate group want with a nameless teenager? A kidnapping perhaps for ransom? That was most likely. Even if the kid had escaped he could evade them for only so long. A group like that had a reach as far as the entire ocean. Whatever they wanted eventually they got.

Although they had a reputation of being merciful they would resort to darker things if the need called for it. Sabo was not foolish enough to think that they would go easy on the boy just because of his age.

"Tell me everything you know about him!" Sabo said as calmly as he could.

"Not much," Koala said looking worried but she kept it to herself. He's not one of the higher-ups though, just a low-level crew member."

There was a possibility he was acting on orders then. He had mentioned something about being in trouble if that boy escaped. In trouble with Whitebeard? Sabo hoped not. That was a fight he knew he could not win. Better start a few notches lower on the chain of command.

His bounty said he was currently in the second division, which made Sabo groan. Of course it had to be the second and not something a little lower. Still, thankfully enough it wasn't the first.

"Who's the second division commander?"

Koala bit her lip as she thought, "I think it would be Fire Fist Ace."

"Who?"

"He's a relatively new pirate but he already has a large bounty. Rumor has it he was offered a warlord status but he turned it down, the first person ever to do that."

Sabo had heard about that. And the name did sound familiar. He had heard about him briefly in passing. He held the Mera-Mera fruit and controlled flames. He was also one of the youngest Whitebeard members ever.

"Alright!" Sabo said, grabbing his hat from the table and putting his gloves back on. He had a starting place.

"Where are you going?" Koala cried in alarm.

"There's something I need to do," Sabo said as he set off across the library determined. He didn't have any more time to waste. The boy could be dead by now for all he knew.

"Wait up idiot!" Koala had to run to catch up to him. "Please tell me what going on."

"There's just something I need to look into." Sabo said vaguely as he set off down the hall. He didn't really want Koala getting involved in this, especially considering it involved the Whitebeards. In fact he couldn't let anyone get caught up in this, lest his actions be considered a declaration of war from the revolutionaries. That was the last thing they needed right now. No, if he was going to do this then he was going to have to be a free agent. He worked better alone after all.

"Am I supposed to be content with just that?" She asked annoyed, struggling to keep up with his fast pace.

"If I mess this up it could cause a war," Sabo told her truthfully. "Trust me the further you are from this the better." He flung open his bedroom door hastily searching for his combat clothes. He didn't even bother calling out a warning as he unbuttoned his shirt, the squeak from Koala told him she was less than amused as she ducked out of his room, leaning against the wall outside until he was done.

"So you're not even going to tell Dragon!"

"Nope." He said pulling his heavy boots on.

"You're just going to vanish.'

"I'll be back." He told her abstractly, it was hard to focus on anything with the blood pounding in his ears, hopefully with the kid, alive and safe.

He pulled on his coat tearing off the revolutionary armband. Lastly he searched around for his hat, dismayed to find it missing. He turned to the door to see Koala standing in the doorframe clutching the old thing tightly, blocking his exit.

"Slow the hell down!" She said clearly annoyed now. "Tell me what's going on and we can talk about this rationally, like adults. I'm sick of you taking on everything yourself and rushing off.

Sabo appreciated where she was coming from, he also understood he didn't have time for this. His nerves were shot as it was.

"I'll explain the entire thing to Dragon when I get back." He would understand… probably. Either way it didn't matter right now.

"Look it's… a personal thing." The words felt foreign on his tongue.

"Since when do you have a personal life?" Koala asked.

"I'm not sure." He admitted his hand tightening on his pipe. "Hopefully I'll find out."

Because deep down, it felt like he knew that kid from another life. His other life. Before the revolutionaries, before waking up in Dragons medical ward.

"So it's worth risking your job?"

"Yes!" Sabo said with such resolution Koala sighed, leaning back against the door frame.

Sabo approached wearily, unsure if she was going to hit him or not. Instead she grabbed his collar pulling him down to her level so she could put his hat on top of his head.

"I'll try to cover for you. Just be careful idiot."

"You really are the best." He said giving her a smile.

"You say that now but if you don't check in with me I will tell on you!"

"Thanks mom," Sabo said with a smirk as he slid past her into the hallway.

"You better come back!" She threatened.

"Sure." He called back to her as he slipped down the darkened hallways.

 **XXX**

"What's up?" Marco asked automatically as soon as he picked up the Den-Den Mushi.

"I'm afraid it's not good."

"When is it ever?" His son sighed.

"I talked to…Luffy was it?"

"Wait!" Marco was suddenly very interested. "Where? When? Did you get him back?

"Hardly," Whitebeard sighed. "He intercepted a call I made to Marshal."

"How is he? Alive I hope."

"I'm not sure for how much longer," Whitebeard said wearily.

"What do you mean by that?" He was suddenly very alert.

"Is Ace with you?"

"No?" He's watching the new recruitees. What's up?"

"I'm not sure if I want Ace knowing this but Luffy escaped."

"What!" Marco breathed, "Why shouldn't we tell Ace? This is great." He hated the way his friend was being controlled by that black-hearted man.

"It's not that simple. He did escape but he came back. As of now Teach does not know of his whereabouts but…" He didn't need to say that it could change at any moment.

Marco was silent for a minute before finally managing to spit out "Why the hell would he do that?"

"For Thatch."

…"Oh." Marco said softly.

"Do you know how he's doing?"

"Not good. His wound is infected and he is delirious. Luffy's bringing him some medication. He will do what he can for him but…" He didn't need to finish.

Marco sent a silent prayer to the boy, who he was liking more and more by the minute. He felt a stab of guilt at how willing he was to sell out a kid if it was to save his brother. No doubt this was the inner turmoil Oyaji was currently working through. Luffy wasn't going to leave Thatch even if it would save his own life. The odds of him being able to sneak out with Thatch were so small it wasn't even worth contemplating. But yet the idiot was still going to try. Marco only knew one other person who was that selfless and brave. That was definitely an Ace move right there.

"I don't want to think about what he is going to do to Luffy when he finds out."

Marco silently agreed. "It's probably best not to tell Ace." He agreed. The last thing the boy needed was more stress.

"One good thing came out of it though."

"Oh?" Marco asked desperate for some good news.

"Luffy told me where they were. It's still quite a ways, we won't be able to get there anytime soon." And there was no guarantee the two would last long enough for that. Not to mention before they could get close Teach might be already gone. Still though.

"It's something," Marco said as Oyaji hummed in agreement.

 **XXX**

Ace's glare was like molten fire and it pierced into Burgess like a knife.

"You're early" He snapped. The meet up wasn't until tomorrow.

"Yet you still have all of them." The man said surveying the rag-tag group who stood a few meters away glaring at the two of them. "Tell me how did you manage that?"

Ace's gaze flickered to the floor making the older man sneer. "With help of course. Am I right?"

Ace's glare was back as he fixed the man with an intimidating look. "

"Did you really think we wouldn't notice? Oh, Ace I thought you were smarter than that."

"Go to hell."

"Hold that thought. The boss wants to talk to you." He said reaching into his pocket for a Den-Den.

Ace stared offended by the thing as he finally picked it up, making a dissatisfied face.

"Ace," The man's sickening voice greeted. "Good job gathering my new crew. But I do believe I asked for you to do this alone. Honestly I'm a little surprised, I didn't peg you for the type who goes crawling to others with your problems. I expected more from you."

"Spare me the lecture vermin." Ace snapped his frayed nerves fueling his temper. "He followed me and why would I listen to a traitor like you?"

"There's the Fire Fist I know, let's see how long you can keep up that fire before we burn you out." The snail grinned sadistically. "I can't let you off the hook for this, you have to pay."

"I have nothing." Ace shot out. Teach had already taken the only thing Ace had left.

"Nots not what I mean. I want you to do something else for me."

"What?"

"Kill Marco."

Ace's blood runs cold as he froze…"What?" He managed to croak out.

"You heard me, kill the Phoenix."

"Never!" Ace shot back automatically.

"Oh Ace," The voice was chalk full of fake pity. "Do you really think I was asking? Let me put it this way, kill Marco or you've outlived your usefulness and I'll kill Luffy.

"NO!" Ace said instinctively finding his voice. "You leave him the fuck alone."

"Then you know what you have to do." Teach's voice was cool and calculated. It sent a shiver down Ace's spine.

"I could never do that to him." Ace shot back. He was his friend, something Ace was still getting used to. Any reservations Ace carried about Marco had all but vanished when he saw the way Marco had torn after him, with the sole purpose of helping him. He had even convinced himself that after all of this craziness was over and Lu was back safe with him, that he would try to open up a bit more to the man. That was on the slim chance he survived. But now the odds of that had gone from slim to none. There would be no character development, no bond to develop, nothing but a lot of death and regret.

"Then your brothers dead. And I'll promise you this kid it won't be quick. We'll make him regret ever meeting you. By the time we're done with him he'll be asking us to end it."

Ace brought his hands frantically up to his head fighting the urge to cover his ears. "Stop it!"

The Den Den's grin only grew at Ace's distress. "But we will simply explain to him that his big brother chose a stranger over him. He should understand, kids are awfully good at adjusting to difficult situations.

Ace's hands clenched into fists at his side. Just when he thought things couldn't possibly get worse for him.

"Please don't make me do this."

"We're not making you do anything," Burgess barked out. "Hence the choice."

"Then you can't possibly make me choose." Ace grit out.

"Oh, Ace." The man's voice tutted in fake disdain. "Is there really a choice?"

"I hate you so damn much." Ace hissed. If he ever got his hands on the man again he was fucking dead.

"Is that a yes then?"

"Go to hell."

"Say it Ace, or we'll send Luffy back to you in pieces."

Ace squeezed his eyes shut. "Fine," He hissed out through clenched teeth. "Just leave Luffy alone."

"Great," The man said tonelessly. "You have forty-eight hours."

"Wait! what?" Ace said frantically his head pounding. That wasn't enough time, physically or mentally.

"And none of this faking his death shit. You are going to do it in front of Burgess then you are going to leave the rest to us. We have something special planned for the Whitebeards.

Ace felt his stomach turn violently. Was Teach always this depraved? How had he not noticed before? The thought of doing anything of the sort to the old man, who had only ever shown kindness to Ace made him want to cry.

"Once you do that you are to return to base with Burgess immediately."

Ace wanted to question the strange orders but something was more urgent. He looked up sharply. "Will you let me see Luffy then?"

"We'll see." The voice said harshly, apparently irritated now. The Den Den clicked off leaving Ace and the insensitive brute alone. At least he didn't have to hear Teach's sickening voice anymore.

Burgess turned to grin down at him. "So Portages, or should I say Gol, how's this going down?"

"Shut up you stupid ogre." Ace muttered as he turned away, hoping the man would take the hint and leave him the hell alone for now."

 **XXX**

As soon as Teach hung up the phone his grin dropped from his face. He was able to bluff his way through that but for how long? To think this entire scheme, years upon years of careful planning could all be undone by one simple insignificant boy and his ability to run fast. How he had managed to elude them in his condition was a mystery. Clearly it meant they were being too soft on him. That was a mistake he wouldn't make twice.

Thanks to that moronic gutter trash he had been forced to move this plan forward a whole month. He would have Ace take out the Phoenix as quickly as possible and return to his clutches. By then they would either have Luffy or he would be in the wind and thus lose his control over Ace. Worst comes to worst he would simply kill him and claim the credit for being to one to take the head of the mighty Portgas Ace who was also the last of the Gol dynasty.

He stood up from his seat so abruptly he could have sworn he heard a squeak from under the desk. It was these damn old hinges. He needed a new freaking desk.

"Soon," He told himself as he left the office, in his haste the half-open medicine cabinet went unnoticed.

 **XXX**

 **As I said above longer and more frequent chapters with the next one being hopefully later this month. Sabo and Ace reunited next chapter and I am so excited to write it. Yay big brother Sabo to the rescue. Thank you guys for being so patient and sticking by me. I promise to try my best and write the most kick-ass story my brain can dream up.**

 **Reviews:**

 **Blueh:**

 **Thank you so much! I'm really glad you like it. Luffy is the best, he is so blindly brave and inspiring. That's what I love about him. I love your stories so I was so happy you read mine and liked it.**

 **Momoxrosax:**

 **Strongly appreciative! Super sorry I made you wait so long. The next one will be quicker.**

 **Avalayn:**

 **THANK YOU! I'm glad you liked it. Sorry I didn't update quickly. I'm debating how big dragons part is going to be. For now he is goin to be sidelined as getting the revolutionaries dragged into pirate war is not smart. But Luffy will definitely find out who he is.**

 **Mystery person:**

 **That's so nice! Thank you. Yea I'm sorry I have a super busy life outside of the fanfic world. For whatever reason this story in particular seems to get dragged out. If it was up to me I would write my life away but that's not on the table. Thank you for your patience. I'm really glad you're liking it**

 **ThisIsLightful:**

 **Sassy Luffy for the win. I love that kid he is adorkable.**

 **RockingTheGraveyard**

 **That's so kind. I'm glad you liked it. I think Whitebeard is a kind man who doesn't yell at children if he can avoid it haha. Hopefully I have time to squeeze in more interactions between the two of them later on. Thank you for the review**

 **Peppymint:**

 **Poor Luffy indeed. He is just trying to be a cinnamon roll and everyone is giving him a hard time. Poor Ace as well after this chapter. Teach definitely deserves whatever he gets**

 **Poor Luffy. On the other hand, I do not feel at all sorry for Thatch when everyone catches up with him.**

 **sess18:**

 **Thank you haha. Sorry the update took a while.**

 **Wordlet:**

 **Thank you! The Luffy WB conversation seemed to be a hit I'm really glad you liked it. It wasn't a little selfish it was super selfish he was all run and then oops save my son. To be fair I think he was trying to do right by Luffy and Ace but after he found out it was Thatch he couldn't bring himself to abandon his son to save his other one. Haha the last part made me laugh. More Sabo delivered and I just put in another order for chapter 12 with extra Sabo on the side. Glad you liked it!**

 **Guest #2:**

 **I think they are feeding him slightly more then that. Plus he's not running up and down like he was. But what do I know about Luffy physics**

 **report review for abuse**

 **Blackthorn Ashe:**

 **Yaaayy! A review. I'm glad you liked it. That part seemed to be a hit. Boo Teach he sucks and is mean and smelly. Sabo shall come soon rest assured. Thanks for your patience. Insomniac Dormouse:**

 **Thank YOU for reviewing! Hopefully more Luffy/WB on its way in the future. I'm glad you liked it.**

 **Chey:**

 **Here is moarz**

 **GreenDrkness:**

 **I think Luffy can have his occationaly smart thought before he goes back to autopilot. I'm glad you enjoyed thanks for the review I shall keep up the writes**

 **Kryliadarr:**

 **That's wonderful! I'm glad it was good enough to merit a re-read. Haha I bet you caught all my spelling mistakes that I am semi-concerned about. Thank YOU for reviewing! the-**

 **bunnys-echo:**

 **Lolz, no like I said I'm not A+ artist yet so that was a mistake. Ace gets to keep his arm it's something else, or another two things. I'm glad you like it! Thank you for reviewing!**

 **Kitsune Foxfire:**

 **Thank you!**

 **Mel72000:**

 **I'm glad you think so. Luffy is very fun to write for!**

 **9momentos:**

 **No help in store for Luffy. But soon his brothers will give him hugs and awesome ASLness. WB shall try his best for Luffy and Thatch. Glad you liked it**

 **YJV:**

 **Stay tuned for next chapter! Something like that is on its way, only with a rocky start. And it can't come too soon, Ace needs some Sabo right now. I'm glad you liked it! Thank you for reviewing. Sorry for how long the update took.**


	12. Chapter 12

"What?" Garp snapped as he picked up the phone He did not have time for this, there was an uprising he had gotten roped into taking care of in the west.

"Garp!" Came a concerned voice that took him a moment to recognize.

"Makino?" He asked surprised. He was friendly enough with the woman but she had never called him before. This could only mean one thing. And it wasn't good.

"What's Luffy gotten caught up in this time?"

"That's just it, no one's seen him in nearly two months."

Garp sighed rubbing his temples. "So? It's Luffy we are talking about here. He probably just got lost, or made a new friend, or both, he'll turn up eventually." He always did.

"That's what we thought so Dadan sent out a guy to go find him."

"And they didn't find him," Garp guessed.

"No, but we found his shoes."

"His shoes?"

"Yes, but it looked like a bomb went off around the area. Some of the trees were broken and the ground was torn up… and there was some blood. A lot actually."

Garp was alert immediately running a hand through his beard. Makino was right to worry.

"Makino listen to me, keep looking alright. I can't leave right now but I'll do what I can on this end." With any luck Luffy was still on the island.

"Call me if you find anything." Makino ordered and Garp agreed absentmindedly as he bid the woman good bye.

"This was probably just another one of Luffy's dumb stunts. He would crawl back in a week or two with a busted face and a huge grin asking for food. The idiot.

Although… even Luffy wouldn't stay away this long. Especially if he had truly gotten hurt.

Garps heart tightened painfully at the thought. How old was Luffy by now? Thirteen? No that wasn't right, Garp visited him last year and he had said he was fourteen then. That meant Luffy was already fifteen. Good lord the time sure passed. Sooner then he realized as his grandchildren were going to be all grownups… and be marines before he knew it.

He eyed the resting Den-Den thoughtfully. He felt like he should let someone know what was going on just in case that horrible feeling curling in his gut turned out to be correct.

Dragon perhaps? He was the boy's father. Although as far as Garp was concerned Dragon had given up all claim of Luffy the day he handed Garp that squirming giggling bundle all those years ago. Best for everyone, especially Luffy if Dragon stayed far away from him.

That just left Ace. Who was the natural choice to call. After all there was no one in the world who Luffy was closer to, nor who cared about him more. In fact when Ace was just eleven years old, shortly after his brother's death Ace told Garp in no uncertain terms that he was going to look after Luffy from then on.

At first Garp had been thrilled. After an initial rough patch the boys took to each other like glue. You couldn't separate them with a crow bar, Garp would know after all he had tried. Their friendship had cured both Luffy's childhood loneliness and the darkness that had, up until that point, been festering in Ace's heart.

It was only when Garp heard Ace and Luffy swear to form a pirate alliance against the navy when they grew up that made Garp realize he had just made a huge mistake. The boys were formidable enough on their own. He shuttered to think of what they could accomplish together.

It was already too late for Ace, far too late. While Garp's back was turned (which was always) he escaped the island and became a notorious pirate. No doubt if he wasn't careful Luffy would do the same thing.

Garp nodded his mind made up. He would tell Ace of his brother's disappearance. It was the least he could do. That might prove a little tricky seeing as Garp didn't actually have any way of contacting the hooligan pirate other than chasing after him in person. Which was risky as it meant Garp would then be duty bound to try and capture Ace. He would have to figure something else out.

And then once they got Luffy back safe and sound he would kidnap the kid… again. Purely for Luffy's own good though. And take him to the marine base where when he turned seventeen Garp would enroll him in the marines.

Garp nodded satisfied with his plans. First things first, he needed to find Luffy.

 **XXX**

"Hey," Sabo greeted the black haired man who was shifting through various vegetables at the islands open market.

The dark eyes looked up quickly assessing Sabo quickly before putting the vegetables down.

"What do you want?"

"Some information."

"Fat chance." Izo grabbed his bag and began to walk away only to be followed by the blond man.

"You didn't even let me finish." Sabo protested.

"I don't need to cutie. Why on earth would I simply give you information? You have nothing for me."

"I wouldn't necessarily say that."

"Oh?" Izo looked up interested. "What would you possibly have to give me?"

Sabo ruffled around in his bag pulling out a stack of papers holding them up for Izo to see.

"Whats this?"

"Nothing much, just copies of all the information the government has on the yonko, including Whitebeard."

Izo's eyes grew wide at that. "Are you serious?"

Sabo nodded.

"How did a kid like you get this?"

"Well for starters being a full grow adult not a kid helped. Secondly I'd rather not say. Let's just say no one knows I have them and leave it at that."

"What do you want for them?"

"Tell me where Fire Fist is."

The two stared at each other for a second before Izo continued walking. "Ya right, scram kid."

"I'll take that as a no then," Sabo said as he once again followed the man.

"I would never sell out my own crew mate." He looked longingly at the files, "Not even for something as good as that."

Sabo had heard the Whitebeard pirates were a tight knit bunch. Still he was accustomed to getting what he wanted through any means necessary. He didn't work as an intelligence gatherer for nothing.

"You misunderstand me. I just want to talk to him nothing more."

"I think Ace is a little busy right now to deal with whatever the revolutionary's want with him."

Sabo froze, "What?"

"I know who you are. And any other day I would love to play with you but right now's not a good time so why don't you scurry back to your boss and tell him that if he has anything to say he should do it to our faces and not send his messenger, secondly if you guys want to mess with Ace you will have to go through us first.

Clearly he had just stepped on a mine field here. One he didn't particularly want to unravel. The worst thing was he could not afford to drag the revolutionaries into this. It could cause a war. No he had to handle this himself, and quickly. It was time for Sabo's least favorite technique, telling the truth… at least most of the truth.

"Listen," He leaned back against the wall. "The revolutionaries don't know I'm here. This is more of a personal thing."

"So personal as in you stole their files and then just… walked out? How are they okay with that?"

Sabo hummed in amusement, "Well for starters I didn't steal _their_ files."

"Let me guess, your just borrowing them then?" Izo rolled his eyes. "Nice try kid, I would have thought the chief of staff would be a bit better of a liar."

"No I definitely stole them, just not from the revolutionaries. Let's just say one of the Navy captains is a little too liberal with the bottle."

Izo looked fully immersed now, "are you serious?"

Sabo nodded, "It took twenty minutes tops. I also stole his lunch but I feel like that was the lesser of the two evils. Anyway listen to me, this is personal I know about the kidnapping I just need to talk to Ace." He looked into the man's eyes, "Please help me if you don't someone is going to die."

Izo cussed loudly. "Fine but only because I have a soft spot for cute boys like you… and Ace could kick your ass without even breaking a sweat if he wants to."

"Noted," Sabo agreed.

"Last I heard he was on Sabaody Archipelago, but you had better hurry. I thinks he's leaving soon." Izo looked down at the files in Sabo's hand. "As much as it pains me to say keep them, the location wasn't worth all that. Just promise me one thing In return."

Sabo nodded.

"When you find Ace you two have to talk it out instead of immediately fighting."

Sabo nodded, he could agree to that. Going in swinging wasn't really his style anyways. Although if it turns out Fire Fist had hurt the kid in anyway then all bets were off. Sabo would send his butt to the bottom of the ocean. He had done it before for a lot less.

"Deal?"

"Deal." He agreed as he tucked the files back into his bag.

"Oh and kid? If you mess with Ace you will have the entire wrath of the whitebeards come down on our head."

Sabo smiled as he walked away. He wouldn't admit it out loud but that sounded like it could be exciting. At the very least it would get his blood pumping. He couldn't make any promises that he wouldn't hurt Ace, regardless of the consequences. He had learned long ago that people who lived their lives based on what they thought the future would bring were doomed to fail. He was most definitely not one of those people.

 **XXX**

Luffy lay below Teach's desk trembling. His hands covered his mouth to stop himself from yelling out. He had heard that sick fuck talking on the phone. Talking to his big brother. He had wanted to scream to Ace so bad. To tell him that he was fine and there was nothing this fat freak could do to him that would actually hurt him. Nothing except hurt Ace that is. He had almost done it as well.

In the few hours…days..., honestly Luffy couldn't tell at this point, since he had hung up with Thatch's dad he had searched practically the entire ship. Except one locked room near the belly. Luffy wasn't very smart but he was smart enough to figure out that that's where Thatch must be kept. He was also smart enough to realize he needed a key. Tragically enough as it turns out the keys were held by Teach at his hip.

As such Luffy had been following him all day trying to steal the keys. It was harder then it sounded. Especially without his stretching powers considering the sea stone cuffs kept his arms linked together in front of him and kept him in normal human form. Luffy had tried hanging from the ceiling, hiding behind the open door and dropping heavy things down from the crow's nest all to no avail. That's exactly what led him back to this room hiding once again under Teach's desk. He was halfway through unlatching the key ring from the man's belt loop when Teach made a call…to Ace.

It was bad to say the least. Luffy was so close to forgoing all thoughts of escape to in turn kick the prick in his family's jewels. But he couldn't do that, Thatch was counting on him. Then only after he saved his friend he would do everything in his power to escape and run back to Ace.

'Please don't hurt your friend.' Luffy thought sadly as he uncurled his fists to finish freeing the key ring.

When this was all over he was going to punch chess teeth so hard his dumb face will break. Luffy's unsteady fingers finally managed to unlatch the ring as he held his breath seeing if Teach would notice the loss of weight. It was a good thing the man was perpetually drunk. Holding the key's tightly together so they wouldn't jingle Luffy pressed himself against the back of the desk doing his best to avoid Tech's short legs that stretched just inches from his ribcage.

He wanted to cover his ears for the rest of the conversation but with the cuffs it was near impossible. So instead he was forced to listen to the torturous conversation. At least the one good thing that came from it was he got to hear Ace again. He listened to the comforting sound of Ace cussing out both Teach and his dumb lackey.

Then things took a turn for the worse when they started bartering with Luffy life for some guy called Marco who was also a bird? And for what must have been the first time in his life Luffy heard what Ace sounds like when he was scared. It was more terrifying the anything Teach could ever do to him. Ace was the bravest person Luffy knew. He hadn't realized how much he had relied on his strength until now when everything felt like it was crumbling. He tucked his legs tighter to his chest and pressed his face into his knobby knees trying in vain to comfort himself.

He vaguely heard Teach tell Ace what he was going to do to Luffy if Ace didn't comply. As threatening as those words were they were nothing compared to Ace's response. Unless Luffy was misunderstanding then Ace was actually… begging. If there was one thing Ace liked to remind Luffy of it was that men don't bow their heads to people like Teach.

Luffy was still okay. Sure he was hurting and if he was being honest maybe a little scared. But he was going to be alright. Ace had to know that right? He had to somehow feel that Luffy was still fine, still ready to fight and unwilling to bend. So why was he so scared?

Before he could stop himself a sniff leaked out just as Teach stood up from the chair. Thankfully the pressure from standing up canceled out whatever noise Luff couldn't suppress.

He waited with his hands over his mouth until Teach left, shutting the office door behind him and leaving Luffy alone once more in the darkness with his uncontrollable shaking and the occasional sniff.

 **XXX**

 **Sorry last chapter is a mess, I was dead tired when I spell checked it. This chapter will probably be a mess as well (Sorry).**

 **Luffy's not crying…yet. Just wait. But he is really upset to hear Ace like that. Up until this point Luffy kind of thought Ace was invincible and now he realizes Ace is just as scared as Luffy which makes him realize how bad the situation is. Anywho sorry I lied about Sabo and Ace as I just couldn't fit it in here. Just wait a little bit longer. Also chapter thirteen should be out next week. Because its break I actually have free time yay!**

 **I'm so sorry updates are slow. As I said before my life is a mess. I am a full time science student who also has a full time job, a weekly midterm, a volunteer job, friends who I desperately love hanging out with, and an actual book to write and to top it all off I am dumb as a brick. Finals went amazing (hysterical crying) so amazing in fact I think I am going to retake organic chemistry for the sheer pleasure of synthesizing molecules. Anywho I digress (as everything is on fire) but hopefully updates will be faster seeing as I quit* my job due to the stress.**

 **AN* In this context quite is a gentle way to describe being fired for emotionally compromised people who are prone to eating entire bags of Doritos in times of great emotional turmoil.**

 **Hopefully all of you wonderful readers and OP fans had slightly less failure sprinkled In with your finals and are enjoying the wonderful Christmas season to its fullest. Happy holidays! And Merry Christmas!**

 **XXX**

 ******Reviews******

 **BiancaGracePotterEverdeen** **:** **I'm so glad you like it. Here you go (updates). Hopefully more soon. Thanks for the review.**

 **Virid Visette:** **I'm REALLY REALLY glad** **I'm not actually sure about rayleigh. I haven't thought that far yet. I am leaning towards no but maybe he will pop back up for the big battle at the end. I'm still not sure. I want Oda to show us that too, as well as much muuuuch more Ace but atlas Goda said no** **Glad you liked it.**

 **:** **AAAAH finals. Everything is on fire. My hopes, dreams, future and soul. Hopefully yours went better. Merry Christmas to you too!**

**ar111**

 **Sorry updates are slow. My life is too busy for me to sleep let alone write. Thank you for waiting tho! I hope the update was worth the wait. At the rate things are going I think Sabo is going to get his memories before Thatch figures out Luffy is Aces brother. Im really glad you are so enthusiastic about it! Thank you for the review.**

 **nequam-tenshi:** **AHHHHHHHH we mustn't mention the dark times (Finals). At this point I'm fairly convinced that sleep is a myth and all food comes exclusively in microwave form. Anywho thank you for the compliment. I'm really glad you like the Sabo scenes. I love young ASL flashbacks so more of those soon. Thank you for the review** **I hope finals went MUUUUUUCH better for you.**

 **Peppymint:** **Go Ace/Sabo rescue team Go**

 **Blueh:** **At this point when I flunk out of university for being too dumb to be a scientist I am going to become a full time One Piece FF writer. That's a respectable profession right? That's too bad about OP being less popular. Thank you so much for the compliment, I'm really glad you like my story. Writing it is one of my happy places. Poor Ace indeed. The world needs to give him a break (in the shape of a blond ex-noble.) Soon he will have help. Next chapter should be out soon if life doesn't keep getting in the way. Thank you for the review**

 **Randomly Talented :** **Yea, hindsight 20/20 about Marco telling Ace. I think they just don't want to stress him out more. If that's even possible. Luffy still has the cuffs on. They are just in front of him so he can still semi use his hands. Thatch already loves Luffy for being adorkable, he will love him even more in a few chapters when he learns what Luffy is doing for him. And when the two reunite Ace is going to give Luffy so so many bro hugs. I still don't quite know what will happen to Teach. Hopefully something painful.**

 **Have a lovely Day/Night yourself** **Thank you for the review!**

 **weep for the empty:** **Aww thank you. I'm so glad your liking it. That's so sweet. I think this story was going a bit different direction at chapter five (less Sabo) But I like the whole ASL together! Thank you for reading it! Hopefully you will like this chapter as well.**

 **GreenDarkness:** **Teach is being so mean. But it's what that jerk does, try to separate ASL. Yes! Sabo to the rescue of his brothers, whether he knows it yet or not. I shall keep up the writes.**

 **Avalayn:** **Here is another chapter sorry for the wait. Hopefully Thursday for the next chapter.**

 **DemonKittyAngel:** **Omgdontdieyetmoreasl and SABO!**

 **I am so glad you love this. Ace and Sabo will surely never forgive anyone who messes with Luffy. Especially Teach. Sabo shall set Ace's head straight and take away some of the pressure. Lols yes, yes Ace will. He wouldn't be him if he did things the easy and normal way. I'm really glad you like it. Hopefully you will like this chapter as well.**

 **Neko1290:** **Luffy is already a badass, as far as captive fifteen year olds go. If you mean busting himself out and then taking on Teach then no, unfortunately he will need big bros for that. Sorry the updates took a while.**

 **leafpool5:** **Aww thank you. More of this on its way. Sabo needs to save Ace first but then they shall go get little bro! Thank you for the review, I'm really happy you like it!**

 **Jui-Imouto-Chan:** **And fuck shit up he shall. Go Luffy. Poor Thatch, I guess at least he might be the one having the most fun right now which is saying something. Ace and Sabo reunite next chapter (sorry I lied) but it wouldn't fit here as Sabo needed directions first. But after they do they will shoot right after Luffy and have ASL hugs**

 **loveless23:**

 **I would love to but life has other plans. I will do my best tho. I'm glad you like it!**

 **Drawkill Vear:**

 **Yay** **I hope I didn't keep you waiting too long this time. Hopefully I will have more time from now on. *Attempts to hug back***

 **YJV:** **Sabo shall help Ace who desperately needs the break. I'm not sure who called who? I think it was Whitebeard? I think he called Marco to tell him about Luffy and then the P.O.V shifts because I'm lazy. If the scene was poorly written I blame my general sleep deprivation and instant ramen diet.**

 **MayaHikari:**

 **One Piece quote? Or am I embarrassing myself and a president said it and I just outed myself for failing twelfth grade history. Either way thank you for review**


	13. Chapter 13

"Fire fist?" Sabo called out.

The teens took his head out of his hands to glance over at Sabo before sighing. He pushed himself to his feet glaring at him.

"What do you want?"

"Answers! Where is Marshal D. Teach!"

"What?" Ace looked confused as he regarded the other boy carefully. "I don't have time for whatever crap you came here for. Get lost."

Sabo took a step forward refusing to back down. "You better make time. Tell me where Marshal D. Teach is right now and what you did with that boy."

Sabo watched surprise blossom on Ace's face as he stared at him. "You mean Luffy? How do you know about that?"

Sabo ignored him and took another step forwards driving Ace against the wall. "Since when did Whitebeard start kidnapping children? Or was this you're doing? His parents owe you money so you grab the kid for what…Collateral? And I thought Whitebeards were supposed to be an honorable bunch."

Not liking his tone Ace shoved him away anger mixing with the confusion now as he regarded the teen wearily. "What the hell are you talking about? How do you know about Luffy? You better tell me now because trust me you do not want to be on my bad side today of all days."

"Luffy?" Sabo repeated. So the mystery boy had a name. It felt oddly fitting. "I don't care what side of yours I'm on so long as you call off your goddamn men. I guess kidnapping and torturing kids was too hard for you so you sent your cronies. You do make a good pirate."

Too be fair that wasn't entirely called for. But he had a bad few days and if anyone deserved Sabo's wrath it was this kidnapping pirate. He couldn't stand people who abused their power to make other lives miserable.

He had apparently pushed him too far with that last one. Ace lunged forwards his hands grabbing Sabo's shoulders with a cry of rage.

Sabo briefly remembered promising Izo to talk things out with Ace instead of fighting. Although to be fair he felt like for the time being they were beyond talking. Maybe they could pick up the conversation when Ace was a bloody pulp.

He reached behind his back to grab his pipe as Ace took a swing at him, his fist morphing into fire. Apparently they didn't just call him fire fist for fun.

Sabo was forced to lean backwards to avoid yet another painful scar across his face. In the process his hat was knocked off his head and into the muddy grass.

"Thanks for that." Sabo said sarcastically as he ran his gloved hand through his hair. He felt oddly naked without his hat. It did wonders for hiding his scar, something which both attracted a lot of attention and made him stand out. Two terrible traits for revolutionaries to possess.

He braced himself for the next attack…only it never came. Ace was staring dumbfounded at him. Not the heartwarmingly furious way he had come to enjoy so much but rather in a way that was making him rather uncomfortable.

"Are you alright?" Sabo asked as Ace's arm reached out to touch his scar. Sabo instinctively turned away with a sharp intake of breath and Ace's fingers paused.

When Ace spoke his voice was so soft Sabo had to lean in to hear him.

"Why do you have his face?"

"What?" He was starting to suspect this pirate was quite mad.

"Sabo?" Ace asked his voice strained. "Why do you look like him? I don't understand."

Blue eyes met grey ones and for the first time Sabo realized how tired Ace looked. He looked like he was about to cry. What's more was even though this was their first time meeting he looked so familiar. Much like with that boy…Luffy. A feeling that he couldn't quite place bubbled up in his chest. Sabo lowered his guard, letting the pipe fall to the ground.

As it turns out this was a big mistake as the next second the fire teen snapped out of it and clocked him as hard as he could across the face.

'And this is why we don't let our guard down,' Sabo thought to himself viciously as he was knocked to the ground.

"What the hell?" Sabo asked sitting up. He thought they were having a moment. Albeit a very weird moment with face touching.

Whatever anger Sabo felt quickly diminished as Ace towered above him, so angry fire licked at his skin.

"WHAT THE FUCK SABO!"

Sabo rolled away narrowly avoiding another fist aimed at his face. He lashed out with his feet catching the teen in the knees and sending him sprawling onto the ground.

"You're insane!" Sabo yelled as Ace lunged at him.

"And you're an asshole!" He responded as he pinned the boy beneath him. Sabo reached out for his pipe which lay a few feet away in the dirt.

"I'm not the asshole that randomly attacks people." His fingers closed around the metal and he brought it above his head to stop the fist currently heading for his nose. He was pleased to see the teen was no longer on fire. He caught Ace firmly in the ribs with the end sending him flying back a few feet.

"And I'm not the one who kidnaps kids."

Ace snarled at that as he threw himself at the blonde.

"CUT THE CRAP!" He screamed as he blocked the pipe with his hand. "I would never hurt Luffy. You know that!"

"Excuse me if I don't believe you." Sabo twirled the staff expertly, ripping it out of Ace's hand. "With you being so stable and all."

"What happened to you Sabo?" Ace said as Sabo leaned in for another attack. Ace blocked it yet again as he leaned forwards. Sabo closed his eyes expecting pain.

Instead of hitting him Ace's arms circled around his shoulders hugging him tightly, desperately. Sabo was too shocked to do much more then let out a surprised grunt.

"How did you do that?" Nobody could break through his guard.

"You always pull to your right." Ace muttered into his shoulder pulling him closer. "You idiot."

His throat felt dry. "You know me?"

"Of course I do moron. You think I wouldn't recognize my own brother? Although I can't say the same about you."

Sabo didn't say anything. He was too caught up in what Ace had said.

"You're my brother?" Ace nodded again and Sabo felt a growing wetspot on his shoulder as the other teen began to shake.

"Yea but… just shut up for a second okay?"

Unable to think of anything else intelligent to say Sabo kept his mouth closed. He had no idea what to do. They had never covered this in his training. In fact he wasn't very good with the whole touchy feely emotions thing. Up until now it hadn't really been a problem.

After a few increasingly awkward minuets Ace finally pulled away wiping his eyes hastily with the back of his hand. Although it was pointless as the tears weren't stopping.

"Go ahead and laugh," He said bitterly as his shoulders shook.

"Why would I laugh?" Sabo was very confused and laughing was the last thing he felt like doing.

Ace regarded him carefully. "You really don't know me?"

Sabo shook his head covering his scar with one hand. "I don't remember much of anything about my old life. Until recently he thought it had been a blessing. But right now looking at the crying teenager he would give almost anything to understand.

He looked at him up and down before making a face. "Are you sure we're related? Because I'm pretty pale and your kinda not?" He would like the see the parents who could produce them.

Ace laughed through his tears. "No idiot we're not related but you hate your parents. We both do. You and Lu are the closest thing I have to family."

Sabo frowned, "Lu?"

"Luffy." Ace reminded him. "Our little brother."

"Wait there's another one!" This was the strangest conversation Sabo had ever had. Ace was telling him about his own family like it was polite conversation.

"Why should I trust you?" If there's one thing Sabo had learned after all these years it was that people always lied.

Ace leaned against the wall besides him laying his head back. He let out a small twisted laugh as he looked up at the sky.

"God help me Lu," he muttered. "I am having a really weird day."

"You and me both."

"You have a scar on your right ankle from where a fox bit you."

Sabo pulled his pants up with a small huh. He had wondered where he got that.

"Your favorite color is… or at least used to be blue. People tend to annoy you but you always put up with them because you're a nice person. Your super smart but you claim it's more because you work hard then natural talent. You hate nobles and injustice and your favorite food is stew although you're not really picky. You don't care much for sweet things but you will eat almost anything. And like I said before you favor your right side leaving your left open for attacks."

They were silent for a moment before Sabo sighed. "This is so weird." He had never told that stuff to anyone. And here was a complete stranger who apparently knew everything about him despite Sabo hardly knowing his name.

"And it just keeps on getting weirder." Ace sighed as he slid down the wall.

"How do you know all that?"

"I told you Sab, I'm your brother. What don't I know about you guys?"

Ace buried his face in his knees with a groan. "Fuck Sabo I really messed up. I broke my promise."

Sabo sat down beside him wordlessly. He didn't quite know what to say. He had never been in a situation like this before. He was still trying to wrap his head around the whole family thing. Although the reason he had left in the first place was because he had felt a kindship with that kid, Luffy or something. He hadn't been expecting to actually find something let alone a mystery family who knew all his secrets before he did. This was what he wanted right? Maybe. But then why didn't he feel happy. Instead he felt weirded out, like he was having a very odd dream and it was time to wake up now. Instead of happy he felt really sad.

"What promise?" He asked finally.

"I told you I would look after Luffy while you were gone."

"Oh." Sabo said feeling stupid. That was a promise he didn't remember making.

"And if you haven't noticed I didn't. A lying maniacal psychopath has him."

"Marshal D. Teach." Sabo said as the pieces came together. "He took your brother!"

"Our brother." Ace reminded him with a small grin which the blonde returned.

"He took our brother." The word felt alien on his tongue. "Why though? Because you were his superior?"

Ace sighed as he looked at Sabo honestly. "This is so strange."

"Tell me about it." Sabo said, "I mean why target you specifically?"

Ace shook his head. "No, it's weird that my best friend in the whole world doesn't know me."

"I thought you were my brother?"

"See!" he groaned, I can't believe I have to explain this to you of all people."

Sabo huffed, "Well sorry you're having a hard time with this. I have no idea what that feels like." He said sarcastically.

"I see you kept your sarcasm," Ace said.

"And I see you kept your freckles. Bet you thought you were going to outgrow them huh?"

"Leave my freckles alone, they were a gift from my mother."

"One that keeps on giving."

"Watch it Outlook. If you could remember what your parents looked like you wouldn't be giving me such a hard time. Talk about potato heads."

Sabo smiled at that, a real smile this time. "Thank god for amnesia I guess."

"I guess," Ace echoed softer.

"Can I tell you a secret?"

Sabo blinked taken back. "What are we kids?"

"No if we were kids you would already know and I wouldn't have had to tell you but since you so conveniently forgot I need to retell you. But only like five people know so you have to keep it a secret."

"Alright," Sabo loved a good secret.

"You asked me why Teach went after me specifically. Well Gol D. Rodger is my dad. I think he wanted to use that to leverage his ego."

Well that escalated quickly. Sabo had been hoping for something very different.

"Why would you tell me that?" He asked. That seemed very reckless. "So many people would love to use that against you."

"I'm in this mess because someone is using it against me." Ace reminded him. "And you were one of the five who knew anyways."

"How do you know you can trust me?" Sabo challenged. "What if I changed since we were kids?"

"Don't be stupid." Ace told him as he stared at his boots. "Memories or not you'll always be my brother."

After a second he looked back up at the blonde a smile on his face. "God I missed you. More than you could possibly imagine."

Sabo looked down at his scarred wrist, peeking out from his glove. "Even without my memories?"

Ace nodded.

"Evening without my charming good looks?"

Ace nodded again, "Even with your sarcasm intact of course Sabo."

Sabo remembered his dream of the three of them sleeping on that warm summer night. He could feel the hot breeze and see the stars above the leaves and he had felt very full. He always thought it was weird that he scarfed down his food so protectively even though no one had ever dreamed about taking it. When he was little he hadn't liked sleeping in the beds. They had felt so big and empty to him. Maybe in his own way he had missed Ace as well.

"Sabo I need your help." Ace said carefully. "You're the only one who can help me. You're the only one I will ever ask to help me. Without you my friends will die."

Sabo looked up at him, "we're going to get Luffy back right?"

"Of course."

"Then I'm in."

 **XXX**

Luffy's legs gave another shake as he fell once again onto his knees. He saw black spots dance across his vision but he pushed them aside in order to stand back up. He was not a quitter. Especially when Thatch was relying on him.

He had snagged the keys from chess teeth so those nasty arm bands were finally gone. That had helped a great deal but he still felt lightheaded and weak. At least he could finally use his powers now.

He pressed his knuckles to the floor using shaky arms as leverage to stand back up. He used the walls to steady himself as he once again took off towards the prison cells.

He had forgotten how stale the air was and how cold and dark it was at the bottom of the ship. The floors were always flooded making him nearly double over the second he stepped in it. He leaned heavily against the railing as his fingers fumbled with the keys.

"Thatch!" Luffy called as loudly as he dared. He received no answer. He swung the door open met with darkness.

"Thatch?"

"Who?"

Luffy let out a sigh of relief as he made his way into the room letting his eyes adjust. He had been seriously worried Thatch hadn't made it through the voyage. His shaking hands felt along the wall like a blind man.

The man was leaned against a pillar in the center of the room. His foot was shackled to the wall but side from that he was free. Apparently he hadn't pissed Blackbeard off as much as Luffy had.

"Are you okay?" Luffy asked crouching down beside him. He felt his forehead only to find Thatch was still running hot.

"Marco?" Thatch asked as he brought a hand up to feel Luffy's face. Luffy pushed it away in annoyance as he pulled out his medicine.

"I think you're sick." He pushed the medicine to the man's lips but he pushed Luffy away with a grunt.

"Marine then?"

Luffy frowned. He had no clue what he was talking about. What was a Marco? It sounded tasty. His stomach growled loudly.

"I'm not a dumb marine." He huffed, "Drink this and you'll feel better."

Thatch ignored him as his fingers trailed over Luffy's face.

"Ace?"

Luffy froze at that. He wished he could say yea, he was his fearless and strong older brother who would get them out of here. But no, he was just Luffy. Still too weak and young to take on Blackbeard. Instead he had to run and hide like a coward.

"It's Luffy." He told him. "We're friends remember."

Thatch smiled at that as he let his arms fall to the floor, trusting. "Luffy!"

Luffy leaned forwards and helped him drink the medicine. He hoped it would make Thatch feel better because the way he was right now Luffy doubted he could walk much less run if he had too. Usually Luffy would be able to help him but at the moment his trembling legs could barely carry his own weight much less anyone else's.

He sat down frustrated, throwing the now empty medicine bottle to the floor. What now? Sit here and cry like the little kid Blackbeard seemed to think he was. No way.

If he couldn't bring Thatch to a doctor he would bring one to the man. Even if it cost him his freedom.

'Sorry Ace.' He thought as he stood up. He may not make it out of this after all. But Luffy didn't like to think about those things. The universe was funny and unlike countless other he didn't claim to know what was going on ever. But if there was one thing he did believe in it was his older brother. When Ace set his mind to something not even the universe could protest. He was stubborn like that.

 **XXX**

 **One Piece Fan Forever: Poor Luffy indeed**

 **Astoria Lilika: I shall absolutely keep writing! Thank you for reading.**

 **dkop21: Thank you!**

 **ThisIsLightful: Indeed! He is a good boy who loves his brother so darn much. Thaks for the review**

 **ar111: I am very well versed in the cycle. I'm glad I can cause people the same strife I feel. Hopefully there was enough angst in the reunion.**

 **EnixFairy: I'm glad you like the story** **Yes! He is free of the cuffs. Yea Thatch is pretty stationary. But Luffy shall stick by him as resident cinnamon roll. I think if you sprain your ankle one more time you will set some sort of record. I agree with your sentiment about school subjects except my feeling towards math are a little more negative but English is chill. And I think it's more along the lines of "** **FUUUUUUCK** **Chemistry!". Aww thank you for the complement. Hopefully this chapter will live up to the hype.**

 **Kenzela: Haha. I don't think s too sneaky here I think everyone is just drunk. But Luffy seems to adapt quickly when lives are at stake. I'm glad you like the story.**

 **Jui-Imouto-Chan: Tell me about it. Luffy only puts in effort for other people. Sabo to the rescue! After a lot of talking. Thank you for the review**

 **Randomly Talented: Yes! There will be blood for what Teach did to Ace!**

 **weep for the empty: No! Don't take it back that was one of the nicest comments I've gotten. You mentioned you write as well so I read them (I'm a sucker for ASL stories) and I really liked them I hope you update. I'm dyslexic as well ad I can vouch for how much fun it is. I'm really glad you like my stories. They are my happy place** **Hopefully this one was good as well.**

 **Virid Visette: Yes! All the Garp. I'm glad you liked Garp. I think he is secretly pleased with how close Ace and Luffy are even if they team up against him. I'm glad you liked it!**

 **DemonKittyAngel: I hoped you liked their highly anticipated reunion. I don't know if I did it justice or not as so many feels. Lols (everythingimploes). They won't get to Luffy for another little while but once they do everything will blow up in their face. Haha yea Sabo is kind of a piece of work but I think they all are. Your right Garp had to leave most of it up to Ace and Sabo.**

' **Hmm... you ever wonder if the WBP should just give him a permanent minder to whack him upside the head when he's being an idiot? Nah, it would need to be one of his brothers or best friends for him to listen'**

 **HAHA I love this line. So true and funny. Ace does hit Sabo and vice versa. But I think Sabo is as guilty as Ace for having Luffy in his grasp and letting him go. I love ASL so much. So precious. Your right somehow both Ace and Sabo tease Luffy while still wanting him to like them the most. Thank you for the review it cracked me up. I'm glad you're enjoying the story.**

 **dkop21: Will do** **Glad you liked it.**

 **leafpool5: I'm glad everyone liked Garps POV! Notice that Ace immediately knows how old Luffy is way back in chapter 2. I don't think Sabo even tried to keep his promise. Ace does in deed punch him. Luffy can hold it together for now. But in a few chapters when he finds something he is going to lose it. 'wink- nudge- hint.' But I think he can keep it together after that. I'm glad you don't mind about the spelling. It's not great but I have problems catching mistakes when I proof it. Yes if college doesn't kill me crippling failure will get me instead. My semester is much mellower this time around. I hope your exams went well.**

 **yuzukikuran476: Keep smiling little Luffy!**

 **BillCiTheDemonGuy: I'm glad you liked my story! Thank you for the review!**

 **Mel72000: thank YOU! For the review**


	14. Chapter 14

"Look kid just come down." Teach said without an ounce of worry in his voice. Not now that he had finally found Luffy.

'Good god', he thought to himself. Someone must have dropped this boy on his head as a baby. How was he possibly this stupid? By some fluke he had been able to escape. He may not be smart but he sure was fast. By some different fluke the kid had been able to dodge capture for an entire day, pretty much ensuring him enough time to get away. But does he even try it? No. The second Teach turns around the kid is right back here half way up the mast during a thunder storm and talking like a crazy person.

Was it the fever? Teach mused as he studied the boy. These last few weeks of captivity had taken a toll on him. Maybe his brain had fried in his skull leaving him dumber then he was before. It mattered little to the pirate. As long as Luffy's heart was still beating then he still owned Ace. Something told him that his old commander would continue to fight for Luffy even if by the end of this he was little more coherent then a vegetable. It was all sentimental crap to him.

"How about this," Teach said quickly losing patience with Luffy's ranting. "If you come down right now like a good boy I won't cut off all your fingers and toes and shove them down your throat."

Luffy made a face at that. It wasn't fear that painted his features so much as distaste. No doubt as he imaged how that would work.

"No!" Luffy said firmly. "You are going to listen to me."

The pirate captain snorted at that and besides him his crew laughed.

"You must be sick indeed to think that we would take orders from a captive."

Ignoring their taunts Luffy continued. "If you don't listen to me I am going to jump into the ocean. I'm not bluffing."

Luffy was defiantly bluffing. He had enough problems as it was without dying. He had no intention of throwing himself into the sea. Although that being said if they tested him he really would jump. Hopefully they would be able to save him.

He watched as the fat man's eyes gleamed in warning. He was not to be messed with.

"What makes you think we give a shit what happens to you?" The Doc said from besides Teach.

"You're using me to get to my brother." Luffy told them adjusting his gripe on the wood. The rain was making it slippery. He had almost slipped off a dozen times by now.

"You can't use me if I'm dead."

Teach stared up at him thoughtfully, like he was seeing Luffy in a new light. No doubt thinking that maybe Luffy wasn't as stupid as he gave him credit for. If he only knew.

As it turns out he was just copying the move from his brother. When they were younger Sabo and Luffy had gotten kidnapped by some bandits running amuck in the Grey Terminal. They were trying to get Ace to surrender so they could kill the three of them and finally be rid of the nuisances. However they needed Sabo and Luffy as bargaining chips to get Ace to turn himself over. Luffy had been scared. Sabo had been pissed. He had held a knife to Luffy's throat in front of them telling them that if they didn't give him some food he would slit Luffy's throat. According to the lies Sabo fed them Luffy and Ace were brothers. That was apparently obvious because of the hair. Ace would turn himself in for his brother but not for his friend so they needed Luffy alive. Or something like that. It was much more elegant when Sabo said it. Either way the men had reluctantly agreed when Sabo was able to convince them he was disposable to Ace but Luffy wasn't. So they gave into his demands. While they were gone Sabo lashed out at the two remaining men, taking them out before they could so much as call for help. He had wisely decided to keep his plan to himself so Luffy wouldn't spoil it with his poor reactions and big mouth. What Sabo hadn't been counted on was how much his little foster brother had grown to trust him. Even when the blond trapped Luffy against his chest and held a knife to his throat his reaction had been completely unsatisfactory and nowhere near the panic of someone minutes away from death. But Sabo was nothing if not smart. While the surrounding men began to question why the apparent hostage was complaining that he was tired and hungry while there was a knife at his throat Sabo had pinched him hard. He had started yelling then and trying to wiggle free of the pain. That had been enough to convince the men that Sabo would really go through with it. Unaware of the deception they sent three of their men away to go find some spare scraps and chains to keep the two boys separated.

They had fled back into the forest, where they had the upper hand and could easily loose the men. When they finally managed to make it back home Ace was there waiting for them. There was a huge smile on his face that widened at the sight of them.

"Finally! There you guys are. I was starting to think you couldn't even handle a few grunts."

Sabo snorted at the thought of needing to be saved. "Please, don't flatter yourself. We had it handled right Lu?"

Luffy was younger then and not nearly as tough as he was now. He didn't remember everything as clearly anymore but he remembered the feeling of awe at how cool the older boys were. Now it was his turn. Long gone were the days where he could rely on his brothers to keep him safe. Even if he really wanted to.

"Like you would actually do that? Cute try kid but you don't fool me.

Trying his best to imitate the cold indifference in Sabo's face Luffy addressed the pirates.

"Try me," He responded loosening his grip on the rigging.

"Even if you do jump we will just pull you out. Not like you could go very far."

Luffy looked down into the stormy waters. The waves pushed against the side of the boat like they were trying to shove the ship aside. They looked strong. Although not nearly as strong as they would have been outside of the harbor. He was pretty much banking on the fact that they would be able to pull him out.

He wracked his brain trying to remember what Sabo did. They had doubted him as well. Telling him that they would stop him before he could do more than injury Luffy. Sabo had shrugged like this didn't bother him.

"Maybe," He had said. "But if you do manage to stop me then I will try again. And again until I get my way." He had smiled up at them. The same smile he used on everyone who weren't Ace and Luffy. It was a rather cold smile and it seemed to do the trick when threats wouldn't work.

"It would be easier for everyone, and trust me when I say less work for both of us, if you would just do what I ask."

Or something like that at least. Luffy's hands were slipping and this was hard to do in the rain. Not to mention he had to practically shout for them to hear them. It was freezing out here and he was naked from the waist up. His torn shorts were thoroughly soaked through. And despite the goosebumps on his skin Luffy felt like his insides were made of molten lava. He was so hot and cold at the same time and his head swam when he breathed too deep.

"Or you will do less work!" He called fighting off a dizzy spell.

Teach looked at the doc confused. "What?"

"I mean if you do pull me out I have to work hard."

"Jesus kid what did we do to you?" The Doc muttered.

Luffy tried one last time, pushing through the lightheadedness. "Even if you do pull me out I won't stop. I'll bite off my tongue, I'll bash my head against a wall until it explodes, I'll drown myself in an inch of water. I won't stop until you help Thatch. If he dies then I die and you have no captives.

"Ah," The Doc Q said to himself. "I knew there was something I was forgetting to do."

Blackbeard ignored him as he continued to stare at Luffy caught off guard.

"You really are just crazy aren't you?" Despite having known him for a little while, and saying it often, he hadn't fully believed it until now. Luffy was completely unhinged. No wonder Ace was so protective of him. Not to mention why he had never talked about Luffy before. Probably ashamed to have a batshit family member. Needless to say he was rapidly losing faith that Luffy wasn't going to go through with it.

"Fine," He waved his hand dismissively. "Come down and we will treat the damn Whitebeard lackey."

Luffy shook his head. "Do it now then I will come down."

Teach narrowed his eye warningly. "Don't push it kid. You're lucky we are even negotiating with you." He held wanted to let Thatch die just so Luffy wouldn't get his way. Although to be fair they had never intended to get rid of the man before he proved at least a bit useful. The fact that he had deteriorated so far was no doubt negligence on the drunken doctor's part. He would need to have a word with the man afterwards. A strong and possibly painful word.

"Go," he told the drunkard besides him. Sensing the anger boiling under Teaches skin Doc Q nodded frantically as he took off.

Luffy watched them carefully as Teach turned his attention back to him. "Now, little boy, why don't you come down from there."

Luffy thought he should stay up here. He trusted these men very little and his instincts told him that he could not believe any of their words. Besides he knew when he came down they would hurt him, bad. And there wasn't much more he could take. He wanted to stay up here and savor his freedom. Each moment was like a breath of fresh non-soggy air. But his fingers were beginning to slip and the dark spots in his vision were getting worse. Very soon he would fall down to the deck.

With shaking hands Luffy began to climb down. Inch by inch. It was all he could do to keep from slipping all the way down and landing on his butt in front of Teach.

When he was about halfway Luffy felt a wave of sudden nausea hit and he had to swallow back the food the nice stranger had given him. He reached up to cover his mouth with one hand trying his hardest to resist to second wave of sick that threatened to come up his throat.

Trembling with the effort Luffy dropped himself from his precarious place on the side of the mast and onto yard for lower mast sail, or as Luffy called it the piece of wood that you tied the bottom of the sail to when it was unfurled.

By this point Teach had grown impatient waiting for Luffy to get down on his own and decided to take matters into his own hands. Cursing loudly he had begun to climb the handholds of the main mast intent to push Luffy to the deck himself.

Luffy watched with half lidded eyes as the man made his way up to him. Not that anyone cared but Luffy really wasn't feeling good. As he was now a fall, even from this minimal height, would make him loose his stomach contents.

As Teach made his way shakily onto the beam that Luffy occupied he scooted backwards. Teach cursed him louder and inched forwards, clearly not as at home up here as Luffy was.

"If I fall…" He began to threaten.

"Your fat ass will protect you," Luffy muttered as he crawled backwards on his hands and knees. He failed to notice how far he had gone. It was no longer the wooden deck beneath him but rather the dark waters.

Teach was saying something, enraged at his last comment. But Luffy was no longer listening. The movement had pushed him over the edge and he lost the battle with his stomach. He let go of the beam instead using both hands to cover his mouth as he threw up. On reflex his legs hooked around the wood leaving him suspended upside down swaying with the wind like a bizarre punching bag. One that had been beaten too many times to keep it's stuffing on the inside.

"That was close," Teach muttered to himself.

Luffy had to agree as he tried to still his head but his vison was spinning far too fast. He raised his hands letting the sick fall into the ocean below him. But there was more. On his hands, dribbling down his chin and now dissolving into the water below was dark crimson blood.

Teach let out a scream of rage as Luffy's eyes rolled back in his head and his legs slipped from their hold. He hardly felt it as his body hit the water below him.

 **XXX**

Sabo stared down at the knife in his hands, his thoughts a million miles away. There was something about a knife and Luffy. He flipped the blade in his hands thoughtfully. Ace wasn't lying there was something here between him and the two boys he had just met. Something strong and unlike anything he had ever felt before. But like all his other early memories whatever it was seemed trapped, locked behind the thick flood gates in his mind.

He continued to coat the blade with learned precision. The door opened and Sabo looked up to see Ace enter, a very large bundle in his arms.

"Did you get it?" Ace nodded.

"Will it do?"

Ace shrugged, "It will have to do. It was the closest I could find."

"I don't want to even ask where you got it." Sabo said although he wasn't as bothered as one should be.

When Ace didn't answer Sabo sighed putting down the knife he had been working on to face the young man.

"Are you still mad at me?"

Once the initial shock of seeing Sabo had worn off Ace started to ask some pretty practical questions. Like what the hell Sabo was doing stalking him in the middle of nowhere. So Sabo had been forced to tell him about his encounter with Luffy and how he let their little brother slip away.

While he didn't get outright hostel Ace had gotten very quiet after that. Even more quite when Sabo told him what kind of shape Luffy was in. But both boys knew there was little time for personal issues when the clock was ticking on this whole murdering Marco thing.

"I should have never left him alone." Sabo admitted feeling his own bitterness at himself seep out through his words. He had left a note asking the boy to stay there. He had come right back only a few hours later. But it had been too late then. There was a chance Luffy had gotten away but neither boy thought it was very likely.

"It's not your fault," Ace said quietly. "How were you suppose to know?"

Sabo had known this boy for only a few hours but somehow the whole stoic quiet thing didn't seem to suit him.

"It is exactly my fault. We wouldn't be in this mess if I had just listened to my instincts and stayed with him."

"I was the one who got him involved in this. This is all happening because of me not you."

Sabo thought about that for a moment. He was perfectly willing to accept his half of his blame in this. But not if it made Ace even more worried.

"Your right," He said suddenly. "This is all your fault. Luffy, Blackbeard, the Whitebeards, the bruise I now have on my cheek, World hunger that one is on you as well. Not to mention war, disease… I can go on."

"Are you telling me in your own special way to stop moping?"

Sabo shook his head as he once again looked down at the blade. His own blue eyes were reflected back at him.

"We were little," He began hypnotized by the glint of the metal. "I held a knife to his throat." For what purpose he didn't know. Sabo ran his finger gingerly over the knife edge. "I think it was one of my schemes. I think I wanted him to look scared." Sabo trailed off struggling to focus on the memory.

"He wasn't was he?" Ace asked softly and Sabo shook his head.

Luffy hadn't struggled or screamed. Instead he had looked up at Sabo even as he said all these awful things. Scary things no kid should hear. Instead of fear the look Luffy gave Sabo was the same one Ace had when he told him his deepest darkest secret.

"You guys both trust me so much." He admitted finally putting the knife down to look at Ace. "I wish I understood more. I wish I could remember this person you two thought so highly of. I'm not telling you to stop moping I'm telling you that I'm moping alongside of you."

Ace made a face, "Uhh god now I have to cheer you up too." He said with a hint of sarcasm. He continued on softer. "You are the person we trust Sabo. You don't have to do anything or be anyone else. It's just you. You don't even have to remember, although I would appreciate it if you did. Now stop being sorry. If one of us is moping it's cool but if we both do it we are just depressing to be around."

"What so you get like three hours of self-pity and I try it for a half a second and it's all 'come off it Sabo."

Ace nodded, "That about sums it up."

"So you feeling better now?"

Ace shrugged, "You know same old. Little brothers in trouble and suffering, it's all our fault. Who cares anyway? We can just get another one. There's like a million out there. What's so special about Luffy anyways? Personally I always thought years of childhood memories were overrated. Maybe the next one will actually listen to us."

Ace was babbling now, working out his nerves. Sabo watched with a mix of amusement and interest. What a liar. He wasn't feeling better in the least. Judging by the pale look on his face he was probably feeling worse the more he talked. Repression. Sabo decided. That's how Ace got thought any bad emotion he didn't want to deal with. The chosen tactic of pretty much any pirate still in their teens. Sabo should know after all. And there was no harm in it. Not like shoving particularly nasty thoughts away had any lasting consequen…..

Like an invisible string had been cut Ace's legs gave and he crashed to the floor like dead weight.

Sabo's eyes widened an impossible amount as he looked around trying to work out what happened. Were they under attack? Was Ace dead?

"What the actual FUCK!"

 **XXX**

Luffy opened his eyes watching blurry shapes move above him. They were being loud. Far too loud.

"What do you mean!"

"Exactly what it sounds like, internal bleeding. It was dangerous to leave it untreated this long."

Luffy tried to open his eyes further only to find the brightness of the room too much for him.

"Well how in blazes did he get that?"

There was a long pause, "You're…kidding right? It happened because you were beating him."

One of Luffy's eyes was pried open and a light was shined on it as he let out a loud moan.

"He seems like he's still alive."

"For now at least, we will see if he continues to deteriorate. If I can't get the damage under control we are going to lose him."

Loose who? His sluggish mind struggled to keep up with the conversation. He didn't know where he was. How did he get here? Who was talking. He remembered the feeling of falling, then being cold and wet and unable to breath. The next thing he knew he was being carried and then nothing.

There was a hand on his forehead and he turned to it. "Titchh?" He slurred quietly.

"We are not going to lose him. Not after I just climbed up the damned mast after the brat. Fix him or you're going to regret it."

"Aye aye captain." The voice responded sarcastically.

"And the other one?"

"It looks like this brat has been busy. He gave him antibiotics. We have to wait and see how he reacts to it. I gave him a fever suppressant."

Luffy moaned again in protest as one of his deeper injuries was prodded at. He wanted them to stop. Just to leave him alone. He still was sick and every prod was felt by his shriveled stomach.

"Why does it feel like all our prisoners are knocking on deaths door."

"Maybe because of you captain."

"What was that!"

"Nothing sir! I'll see to it."

"Yes you will." There was a loud slam and then silence.

"Oy, can you hear me?" The Doc asked after a moment.

Luffy groaned in response.

"Boss wouldn't hurt you so bad if you would just do as we say. You know you brought this on yourself don't you?"

Luffy opened his eyes a hair more to look at the doctor. "I know." He said his voice hoarse and wispy even to his own ears.

The Doc was hardly the first person to point this out to him. All his life he always made things harder on himself. Everyone who had ever raised a hand against him he knew it was at least in small part his fault. Be it; bad guy lackeys, bullies, pirates, bandits, crooks, criminals, his own grandfather and even on occasion Ace. If Luffy was smarter he would eventually concede a little bit. Give in if only for the sake of self-preservation. But no, Luffy wasn't smart. He didn't have the same survival instincts others seemed to be naturally gifted with. All he had was raw unaltered stubborn pig headedness and a sense of how things should be. And when things weren't right he couldn't stand by and do nothing. If he did give in even a little bit on something he knew was wrong then he thought it would be like a tiny piece of him would die.

He met the man's eyes evenly with his own. "If you fix me," He promised. "I am going to kick your ass into next week."

The man looked startled and then he laughed. He grabbed Luffy's wrist injecting something under the skin that made his head swim.

"You know it's a shame we are going to kill you when we're done. Because I am interested in the kind of man you would have become."

As Luffy began to pass out he felt the man take something from around his neck that he hadn't been aware of before. The Doc inspected it with subdued interest.

"Where on earth did you get this?"

As the drugs took over and Luffy felt himself slipping under once again he caught sight of something blue being thrown into the trash.

 **XXX**

 **Good Lord Chapter 13 got quite a few reviews. I love it** **Thanks guys. Please bear with me as I try to reply to all your awesome sauce comments.**

 **This lucky duck was backpacking around Europe for most of the summer so far. But now I'm back and have to deal with normal people problems again. I really hate my normal people problems. Anywho hopefully a lot of writing shall get done this summer. I want to put a serious dent in this story before school starts again. Thank you guys for being amazingly patient.**

 **I really treasure your reviews. If it was biologically possible to subsist off of them I would. But it's not so instead I went through all three pages and responded, which took nearly as long as it did to write the actual chapter. But I love it so much that the more the merrier** **I really hope you guys liked the chapter. Next time Luffy and Thatch reunite and Ace and Sabo try to kill Marco. I'm doing my best to show what a badass Luffy is and if all goes well I will be able to show that Sabo and Ace are just as brave and heartbreakingly loyal as their little bro who learned it from them.**

 **Happy Canada day or 4th of July or sparkler in the garage while your mom isn't looking day, however you identify during this month of fireworks!**

 **.**

 **XXX**

 **OrangeCowboyHat: Thx**

 **Wordlet: Yes! He does. What a little fluff. Although he is kind of a scary fluff. Sabo is working on it with his smart person brain that Ace and Luffy don't have. Teach is very untrustable I agree but I don't think he wants his prisoners dying on him YET. Thank you for the compliment**

 **Astoria Lilika: Luffy is a sweet heart. Hopefully there will be more chances to show Ace and Sabo are ones as well. But in a different way I think. At this point there is no way they aren't going to try to get revenge for Luffy.**

 **abuseanimefreak502: I shall!**

 **xXxWolvesInTheNightxXx: More Ace ad Sabo being cute together. Thank you**

 **Nelliplier48: Thank you! I think so too. That's why I dedicated my life to writing fanfics about how cute they are**

 **GreenDrkness: Yes Sabo is definitely going to take it slowly. I still have no idea how he is going to get them back so any suggestions are welcome** **Luffy is still trying his best. Even if he is goin to be down for the count for a bit. I shall keep on the writes.**

 **DemonKittyAngel: Yes they are no good. But Sabo had moderate intelligence Ace and Luffy don't so he will use his powers of common sense for good. Sabo will get his memories back eventually, how yet I don't know. Sabo mentioned it a few minutes later and it did not make Ace very happy knowing how close this nightmare was to being over. Close on Luffy's end, but he targeted the closest available doctor. I'm glad you liked their reunion. I was worried a bit if I did it right or not. I always thought their friendship was the cutest thing since they are so alike. Luffy really does take after them way too much.**

 **Thank you for the wonderful review**

 **CelinaB: I'm glad XD**

 **Jui-Imouto-Chan: Luffy is not so much into saving himself as everyone else as shown with his little monologue at the end. I think everyone got a little too real this chapter whoops. I think you should be my marketer. Like they have at the end of the episode except for fanfic. Thanks for the review**

 **Jordansdevil: No he's tragically going to miss them by a bit** **Otherwise they would save poor Thatch and Luffy and there would be no awesome final battle of slow motion ASL reunion or frolicking in a meadow. And everyone knows that you can't have a One Piece story without the characters frolicking in a meadow XD**

 **Mel72000: True that. Ace is violent with his emotions. Luffy is just a fluff through and through**

 **ASL is alive: Sorry not yet. I was thinking about it but that's more work for my lazy self** **Although It means more people. I'm really glad you like the story. I'm not sure yet how Sabo's memories are you to play out. Still pondering that one. Any suggestions are welcome!**

 **Guest #1: Thanx**

 **xxLanaxx: And continue I shall**

 **Rosalix Archangel: YAY! I'm glad you like it. Hopefully you liked the new chapter as well. Me too. I want Ace and Sabo to give Luffy a really big hug. But first some shenanigans. If it was easy for them it wouldn't be a story. Same, screw Teach he is dumb and ugly and mean. Thank you for your nice review** **I really appreciate it.**

 **Mochelo: Your Awesome**

 **Casy13: More Thatch and Luffy coming up. I'm glad you like it. You might have to wait a bit for the Luffy WB reunion and ASL. But hopefully it will all be worth it. I'm aiming for some epic shannanagargles in between. Thank you for the nice words. Have a great week as well**

 **leafpool5: Thatch really likes Luffy** **He is the only one to actually see Luffy for his age and treat him like a kid while still respecting him. More of them together next chater as Thatch tries to take care of Luffy. Ace and Sabo still don't know the half of it yet. They will be beyond furious when they see Luffy for themselves. Not so much on the Sabo meeting Marco thing. They only have a bit of time before they have to take him out. I guess technically they do meet each other though. But not really in the friendly capacity. Thanks for the review!**

 **BEATRIZ: Surprise! You guessed it !At least Doc Q is better than Teach**

 **MelodiofHope: Ace and Sabo together!**

 **Blackthorn Ashe: More SABO! And more Luffy and Thatch next chapter**

 **Peppymint: He is working on it XD**

 **AndurilofTolkien:**

 **weep for the empty: What! No way. Trust me when I say no one has ever accused me of being naturally talented at like ANYTHING! So it really means a lot when someone tells me they like my writing or my stories. I think you should keep doing whatever makes you happy! At least from this losers point of view writing is about being able to share the weird stuff in your head with other people so it can't be good or bad** **!**

 **Lunapok: Here you go a new chapter! With more Ace and Sabo because they are so darn cute together.**

 **Randomly Talented: Luffy continues to be brave! Sweet little floof. Sabo is slowly remembering. And same, screw Teach. What a piece of work. Same to you** **firework time**

 **Buterflypuss: XD**

 **Nelliplier48: And I love your review** **Thank you for the support. I actually still don't know how Teach found out. I'm starting to think Shanks might have something to do with it (but shhh tis a secret). More on this later. I hope you liked this chapter as well!**

 **Castiel'sHunter10: Aww thank you** **I'm glad you like it.**

 **yuzukikuran476: They are certainly working on it. And don't worry about it. I am mentally scared enough from canon Ace dying. I'm not going to make it worse and kill him again.**

 **yuzukikuran476: We must be patient. Then we will kill them very slowly and painfully. I shall do my best to try and update way sooner than I have been. Sabo and Ace won't let anything happen to Luffy. He is too precious.**

 **Guest #1: I'm glad you like it**

 **RedHeadsRock1010: THANK YOU! GLAD YOU LIKE IT!**

 **Nanahou: OP stories are the best! I love ASL to death. Thank you for the review, high praise indeed! Don't worry I have no intention of abandoning this story. I know that is famous last words for FF writers. But at this point I am so obsessed with ASL that if I quite writing fanfic it will be because of an intervention rather than a personal life decision. Alas my life does get in the way so you might have to wait sometimes between chapters. But if I don't get to put the awesome ending I have in mind into action I shall be disappointed indeed. I wish you a wonderful day as well XD**

 **SakuraKoi:**

 **dkop21: Here you go!**

 **Guest #3: Tell me about it.**

 **emma3883: And continue I shall!**

 **Crystal Tempest: So true! Thank you I'm glad you like it.**

 **dragonfighter11: Yes, but you see if the characters got what they wanted immediately it wouldn't be much of a story. In the opinion of little ol' me a story is all about the struggle and the journey the characters go through. Even if it can drag at times.**


	15. Chapter 15

Luffy moaned when he felt his arm being shaken. He wished Teach and the crazy doctor would just leave him alone. There wasn't much left they could do to him that they hadn't already done.

"Luffy wake up." A weight shifted near his feet and the bed dipped. He felt someone run fingers through his hair much too gently to be one of the Blackbeard's.

"You're such an idiot Luffy."

Fighting the pull of the drugs Luffy opened his eyes trying to sit up only to be gently pushed back down.

"Thatch?"

The man gave him a small smile as he felt his forehead.

"Are you feeling better?" Luffy asked his voice coming off a little hoarse. Probably from swallowing a few mouthfuls of seawater.

Thatch nodded, "my fever broke a few hours ago. I'm no longer crazy. And I'm told I had you to thank for that."

Luffy did his best to keep up with the conversation. "What did I do?"

Thatch looked at him in concern. "You broke free remember? And you little idiot you, you came back for me."

It was hard to concentrate on what Thatch was saying when it felt like he was going to be sick every other word.

"You shouldn't have done that." Thatch told him softly.

"You're my friend," Luffy told him simply as he sat up slowly, this time the man didn't stop him. "Friends don't turn their backs on each other." If he did that he would be no better than Teach… well he would still be a bit better but not by much.

"You were so close to being free." Thatch argued.

"And you were so close to death," Luffy growled through gritted teeth as his stomach rolled. "What's wrong with me?"

"How do you feel?"

"Kinda sick." Which almost never happened unless he got hit in the tummy too hard.

Thatch nodded understandingly. "I think some of the blood is draining into your stomach. Try to bear with it buddy. It will pass."

Luffy flopped back onto the bed looking around. The two of them seemed to be finally free of the torturous dark rooms. Now it looked like they were in one of the cabins, which were big enough for a bed and not much else. There was no window and the door looked to be triple bolted but anything was better than the flooded crate. And on the bright side they hadn't put the sea stone cuffs back on. But Luffy still felt the bone aching weariness that came with them. He looked down at his feet noticing the shiny metal cuff on has ankle chaining him to the wall. He groaned loudly.

Luffy was quickly coming to realize he didn't like the feeling of being tied up. He had realized this in childhood as well but the point had never really been nailed in as much as it was now as what used to be a rare occurrence had quickly become a constant presence hanging over him. There were three things he hatred in this world; losing his freedom, people trying to hurt his brother and assholes who would stoop so low as to betray their own nakama. And so far Teach had done all of those things. Screw that guy.

A steady hand on his shoulder brought him back to reality.

"Seriously bud I don't know how to thank you. You deserve so much better than this."

Luffy had been thinking the same of Thatch. He wished he could help the man get back to his family. He could tell he really missed them. For now he was just happy he seemed to be doing better. He gave Thatch a big smile unaware that his teeth were blood stained and not in the least bit reassuring.

"It's nothing," He promised. "Besides you should thank your dad. He told me what to give you."

Thatch straitened instantly at that.

"What did you say?"

"The guy with the big voice," Luffy explained "I talked to him on the phone. He said he was your dad then he told me which bottles would help you."

Thatch grabbed Luffy's shoulders forcing him to meet his gaze, "Luffy when did you talk to Oyaji?"

Luffy shrugged unsure of why Thatch seemed so serious all of a sudden. "I dunno right before I came and saw you I guess." He had no clue how long he had been asleep.

"Did he say anything else to you?"

He thought back, "I don't think so. He sounded really worried about you. He got kind of mad at me but now I think he's okay."

Thatch sighed as he leaned back running his hands through his hair, "He didn't mention tracking us?"

"I don't think so?" Not that he recalled at least.

"But he doesn't need to track us, I told him where we were."

Thatch shot up again like a pop up toy. Luffy would have laughed if he thought he could manage it without throwing up.

"YOU DID!"

Luffy nodded.

"Where are we?"

"Some place called Jaya I guess."

"And you told pops?"

Luffy nodded.

"And Teach doesn't know you told him?"

Luffy shook his head wishing Thatch would stop making him move. "I don't think so." What was this twenty questions?

"Luffy that's amazing! If Oyaji can catch up with us then we will be free and all of this can be over. You can go back with your brother and we can get out of this hell!"

"Catch up?" Luffy cocked his head. "Did we leave?"

Thatch nodded, "I don't know how long ago. When my fever broke we were already moving. But if there's a way Oyaji will find it!"

Luffy personally didn't feel as enthusiastic as Thatch. If Ace couldn't find him then what was some dad going to do that he couldn't?"

"Besides I don't live with my brother?" When this was over Thatch was going back to his family and Luffy was going back to being alone.

Thatch looked surprised at that. "You don't! Then who do you live with?"

"I live alone."

Well sort of. If Garp asked then he still lived with the bandits. He certainly had dinner with them a few times a month, especially when Makino visited him. But officially Dadan had 'gotten tired of their shit' when Ace turned fifteen and got into a massive fight with her. She had kicked him out and Luffy too while she was at it even though he had been sleeping through a great chunk of the fight. He had woken up to the feeling of being dragged across the floor and the yelling scream of, "And take the obnoxious one with you while you're at it." While that had been one of their worst fights it wasn't like she had never kicked them out before. But something about Ace being fifteen made him decided that he, and by association Luffy no longer needed her help. And even though he was only still eleven and super sleepy Luffy agreed. It wasn't like them to live in one place for so long. Both of them were far too adventurous to allow that without getting bored. And nothing about Dadan's dusty storage attic screamed forever home. So they had fixed up an abandoned hunting cabin in the mountains and lived there for a little while. At least until the forest fires had destroyed it, then it was six weeks back on Dadan's floor before they found a cool cave under a waterfall which was epic. Until the heavy rains came that is. The cycle continued like that until Ace left. Without his big brother around Luffy spent more time with the bandits then either he, or Dadan liked. Sure they had become better friends over the years but that didn't mean she liked seeing too much of him. And she was very vocal about what constituted as too much. Before he disappeared Luffy was living with some traveling artists in the tiny camp they had set up at the edge of the forest. They were very friendly and got on well with Luffy. At least until a snake had eaten one of them

"Don't you get lonely?"

"Huh?"

"Living alone?"

Well he did now that Gerald was being digested. He was the funny one of the group. Although to be fair they had probably moved on by now.

"I guess." Nothing near as bad as when he was a little kid. Before he had met Ace and Sabo. But some nights his stomach felt empty no matter how much food he filled it with. But he liked knowing that Ace was out there. Kicking people's asses and living freely. It made the loneliness worth it.

"Do you have friends or something you can visit?"

Luffy gave Thatch a weird look. The man seemed over invested in Luffy's life. Way more so then anyone else, except maybe Makino. He even got the same eyebrow crease when Luffy said an answer he didn't like.

Did the bandits count as friends? Luffy thought they did. But at the same time they would be mad if they overheard him telling people that.

"Kind of? Not."

"What does that mean?"

"Why are you asking me so many questions?" It was hurting his stomach and his head.

"I wouldn't if you didn't make me worry about you. Everything you say makes me want to call someone for you."

Worrying about Luffy's home life seemed kind of silly when his stomach was currently filling up with blood. But he was starting to understand. Thatch was like a Makino type. They weren't nosey just concerned.

"I'm fine." Luffy promised. "I'm pretty sure Dadan was kidding when she said she was going to sell me and I think I'm getting pretty good at eating the non-toxic mushrooms. Plus the giant tigers usually try to stay away from me so I think I'm winning."

That didn't have the effect he was hoping for to calm Thatch down.

"Please tell me your kidding?"

That was exactly what Luffy had asked Dadan after the selling thing.

"Stop making me talk," Luffy moaned putting his hands over his mouth and trying to mentally will whatever was in his stomach to stay there.

Thatch winced. "Okay but we are putting a pin in that and coming back to it later." He rose to get Luffy the trash can from the corner of the room.

He accepted it gratefully pushing his back against the headboard to keep himself upright. It felt like he had swallowed glass. And the sharp stinging didn't lesson even as he puked. He rested his overhead against the side of the bin trying to control his breathing.

A flash of blue caught his attention temporarily making him forget about being sick. He pulled a pair of goggles from the trash and his brow furrowed in confusion.

He turned them around carefully as his stomach rolled warningly.

"Luffy?"

The strap had been broken and sloppily repaired.

"Kid what's wrong?" He felt Thatch's warm hands close over his.

"Where did these come from?"

Thatch looked concerned but decided not to say anything. "I think that was your stuff. They threw away your clothes after they fished you out."

Sure enough Luffy found his shorts under a layer of grimy bandages. They were still soaking wet from the ocean and little more than scraps.

He looked down at his body surprised to see himself dressed in a stained white shirt he hadn't noticed before.

"It's my shirt." Thatch explained. "The gorillas were just going to leave you naked." Thankfully Thatch was much bigger then him

Makino would have been appaled but Luffy didn't even thank the man. He was far to wrapped up in the goggles in his hand.

How was this possible? Stuff from his dead brother didn't just show up in the trash of an evil pirate's ship. They were on him? How? With shaky hands he reached into the trash to his shorts feeling the soggy paper in his back pocket where he had thoughtlessly tucked it.

The stranger who helped him? But No! That was impossible. Sabo was dead. Dead like he couldn't ever hug Luffy again. Or break up a fight between him and Ace.

He heard Thatch trying to call to him distantly but ignored him for the stinging in his eyes. When he tried to pull the paper out of his pocket it ripped then again as his hands shook.

He laid the pieces out gently on his palm. The ink had gotten blurred in the water, it was nearly illegible now. He had remembered that the note had told him to stay put. That the person would be back to help him. And below all of that was a fancy drawn S with a dot in the middle of the curve. It had smeared now under his finger but he could see clearly how neat the writing was. It was an S he would recognize anywhere. After all he had been forced to copy page upon page of them when he was younger in an attempt to teach him how to write.

Luffy had protested at first. He was made to swing from trees not to sit still and learn reading and writing. But Sabo had insisted telling him that he couldn't be pirate king if he didn't know how to read. So Luffy had put up with it. He spent a few nights a week sprawled out on the floor to copy Sabo's letter sheets where the alphabet was written out for him with frustrating skill. He had tried marginally hard to get his letters to look like his brothers but he always fell short.

His stomach rolled warningly and he barely had to time to grab the basket before he throw up again. He distantly felt Thatch rubbing his back comfortingly and he rolled his shoulders as blood bubbled up from his throat.

When his stomach was empty again he put the basket down and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand.

"God Luffy are you okay?" Thatch sounded worried.

Sabo was still alive! Dogra had been wrong. Sabo was okay. And he was here. He had saved Luffy. Even more then that he had tried to help him. And Luffy had run away from his brother who he hadn't seen in eight years. What the hell was wrong with him?

He felt the goggles being slowly pried from his grip and looked up in surprise to see Thatch.

"No," Luffy said tightening his hands.

"It's okay buddy just let go and tell me what's wrong."

Luffy didn't understand Thatch's worry until he felt a wetness on his cheeks and reached up to touch his eye. He was crying. Something no one on this ship had seen him do since he got here. Much to Teach's disappointment he could never get Luffy to do anything other than scream in anger. A fact Thatch was well aware of.

"Does it hurt anywhere?"

Luffy shook his head as yanked the goggles back and tried to catch his breath. He needed to calm down but he couldn't seem to concentrate on anything besides the over whelming heartache.

Thatch jumped like a startled stout as Luffy started to cry for real. Not stoic manly tears but rather like a child throwing a fit. Big fat tears rolled down his cheeks which he didn't bother trying to wipe away.

"What is it!" Thatch cried equal parts distressed and confused.

"I th-thought he was d-dead." Luffy wailed between hiccups. "I really thought he died then."

Unsure of how to help and upset by Luffy's tears Thatch pulled him to his chest hugging him tightly as he felt Luffy's body shake violently with the force of his sobs.

"I don't u-understand." Luffy stammered as he clutched the goggles hard enough to shatter them.

"Me neither." Thatch told him grimly resting his cheek on Luffy's hair listening to the younger boy wail like his world had been shattered.

"He was right there! And I left anyway. How could I do that?"

"It's going to be okay." Thatch promised him. He was desperate to know what in the world had happened.

"You're really strong Luffy." And braver then any kid Thatch had met before. Whatever it was he would get thought it.

Luffy only shook his head, "I'm not… I'm not strong at all." He couldn't even protect the two people he cared about the most. They did everything for him and he just kept failing them. He couldn't save Sabo and now he was being used to destroy Ace. What was wrong with him?

Thatch just quietly shushed him running his fingers though his hair sympathetically. On some level Luffy was surprised by him. At this point he doubted even Sabo would have put up with this much wailing. But Thatch showed no sign of hitting him. Luffy knew he needed to stop being a crybaby. Stay strong and get back to working out a plan to get back to his brothers and free his friend. But for the life of him he couldn't stop crying because Sabo was _Alive!_ And he wasn't as alone anymore.

 **XXX**

When he heard the door knob rattle Thatch had tensed. Knowing this was not going to be pleasant.

Luffy had fallen asleep hours ago completely exhausted. He had cried so hard he puked yet again and it was only quick reflexes on Thatch's part saved them both.

After that he couldn't seem to catch his breath and passed out again in Thatch's arms. Which under different circumstances would have been adorable.

Thatch had been trying for years to convince his brothers and sisters that he was good with kids. No one really believed him since all the village children they encountered only hung around him because he would feed them. Aside from that it was all, 'let's go play with Ace.' And 'What a surprise Ace is good with kids.'

Thatch squeezed Luffy closer to him. For his part Luffy didn't so much as mumble as his sleep as he was opt to do. His cheeks were still stained and his eyelashes were thick with tears. As Teach dark chuckle filled the room Thatch curled his arm around Luffy's head, which was resting on his shoulder, in a protective sort of way.

"What do you want?" He spat at the man. Hadn't he hurt them enough for one day?

As Teach stepped forward towards them Thatch leaned back against the wall. He reached out with one hand and Thatch flinched back expecting pain. But Teach merely lifted one of his large thumbs and wiped at Luffy's cheek.

"What upset the little kitten?"

Thatch slapped his hand away viciously. "What's it to you?"

"Don't be like that. I just want to know so I can do it again."

"It was nothing you did!" Thatch hissed. "Apparently you are incapable as a villain even to make kids cry."

He got hit for that. He tried his best to hold onto the kid but he was in no shape to do much more then mildly irritate Teach. He ripped them apart easily and in doing so noticed the goggles clutched in Luffy's grip. Luffy had refused to let go of them even after he passed out.

Thatch was helpless as he watched the bad man roughly take them from Luffy like taking candy from a baby. He inspected them curiously and Thatch felt his heart fall as he uselessly tried to retrieve them for Luffy. He received a kick in the ribs for his efforts.

"Tell the kid that if he wants them back then he had better start showing me some goddamn respect."

And with that he slammed the door and Thatch could hear the locks click behind him. He was hating the man more and more each day, a feat he didn't think was possible.

He had let him takes the goggles shit! He glanced back at Luffy who was still dead to the world and unaware he had lost his treasure once again.

"Shit!" Thatch said as he gathered the kid into his arms once more.

 **XXX**

 **Hey guys** **We are quickly reaching the stories midpoint and I really appreciate all of your support. Originally I had Ace and Sabo's murder attempt in here but it was getting too long so I am saving it for next chapter. So instead we just got a lot of Luffy and Thatch which apparently everyone has been waiting for so I really hope you guys liked it even if not much happened except Luffy breaking down for the first time. I am really excited about the next two chapters so I am currently writing them!**

 **You guys are awesome!**

 **I started doing some illustrations for the story because I need to work on my ink layout skills. Ace and Sabo's reunion was supposed to be first but I drew it about three times and wasn't satisfied so stay tuned for updates on that. So far I just have Luffy in the crate from chapter nine but I am planning on adding more. If there is anything you want to see just tell me and I will get on it. If you want to see them they are here on the deviant art account I made when I was twelve: vi-va-la-vida. Just type that into the deviant art search bar. When I make them I will post them to my Defenders Without Fear folder.**

 **JUST SET ME ON FIRE: Thank you**

 **GreenDrkness: And the writes I shall**

 **Blackthorn Ashe: I'm glad you liked it. And yes they do suck. It was super fun but now I'm broke again. Poor Luffy indeed, he is going to be so upset. And totally I think the story you are thinking of is Burning Rubber which is a favorite of mine. But I actually got the idea from Zootopia Lol. I'm so happy you approve and hopefully will like this chapter as well.**

 **Mel72000:**

 **xxSnowxxAngelxx: Don't fret! Luffy finds them anyway. And I updated another chapter in under a month! I'm really excited about the next chapter so it will be hopefully soon as well. It is kind of dark? I don't know why that's always seems to happen to my stories.**

 **Typhlosion8: Yay! Thank you for the support** **I will do my best to keep chugging along.**

 **Excalibur98: More Sabo and Ace moments next chapter. I originally put it here but this chapter was getting too long so soon**

 **SoulMore:**

 **DemonKittyAngel: Seriously. No self-preservation on that one. It's a good thing he's cute and friendly. Thank you for saying Sabo is cool. I like to think so. More on the murder attempt next chapter but Ace now has Sabo and Sabo always has a plan. Don't worry Luffy got the goggles back (sort of). Your review was the first one I got and it brightened my day thank you for being awesome!**

 **TifaCAT: Awww. Thank you for the support! I'm seriously glad people are reading my wacky tales of fanfic.**

 **duda15: That's so sweet. I spent all of last night planning the future chapters and Dragon finding out is penciled in around chapter twenty! He starts to wonder where Sabo went.**

 **Fangirl: You are one of the first people to tell me it's cute. I get a lot of people saying it went of the darkend but thank you** **update I shall.**

 **Wordlet: Thank you** **Atlas Luffy is still breathing. And more on Ace and Sabo next chapter. Until then Thatch to the rescue!**

 **leafpool5: Thank you! I wanted him to outsmart them but I figured he wasn't smart enough to come up with it on his own. I'm glad Teach is coming across properly evil, screw that guy. Thank you for the compliment**

 **In paragraph 27 Luffy was referencing his and Sabo's kidnapping. Which gets kind of confusing because it skips around a lot. I probably should have used italics. He is trying to remember what Sabo did when they called his bluff which is why it's Sabo not Luffy who looks up at the men and its Sabo's cold smile. Luffy didn't try and imitate the smile just the threats. Sorry about that.**

 **More Ace and Sabo later! They are just going to keep being cute together while tricking everyone like BAMF.**

 **Thank you for recognizing Luffy's kick assness. He hits a bit of a breaking point in this chapter though. And wait no longer for Luffy and Thatch's reunion atlas they are being cute together again.**

 **Thank you for your review** **It really warmed my little ol'heart.**

 **Guest #1: THANK YOU**

 **CelinaB: Of course! X2**

 **Hypnotic doll: Thank you for the support**

 **RedHeadsRock1010: DON"T WORRY THATCH HAS HIM!**

 **Astoria Lilika: I love that idea! Thank you. You are awesome!**

 **xXxWolvesInTheNightxXx: Your amazing!**


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